Is hybrid corn the only kind they grow in modern agriculture now?

Question

Is hybrid corn the only kind they grow in modern agriculture now?

Answer 1

Hybrid corn is bred for increased productivity in modern agriculture. The average yield for hybrid corn in the US is 150 bu/acre.  Yields of 300 bu/acre are possible for hybrid corn.

Open pollinated (non-hybrid corn varieties) with yields of 15-35 bu/acre were common in the US prior to 1950.  Humans ate the fresh ears of open pollinated corn.  After humans got first pick, remaining ears dried or cured on the stalk and became fuel to power cows to produce milk, chickens to produce eggs, mules to plow fields, and horses to pull buggies (horsepower).

Open polinated corn is preferred for growers desiring

a. to save their own corn seeds for planting next season

b. to develop a corn variety specific to the growing area

c. to develop hybrid varieties with repeatable accuracy

d. to raise corn in remote areas denied access to hybrids

e. to raise/develop local economical repeatable corn characteristics devoid of dependence on large corp or governmental greed

f. to maintain a specific corn characteristic to fulfil local or nich benefit ie higher yield on local poor soil/mositure/season, local food market, hardy variety for local challenges (insects, varmints, birds), health food benefits

g. to maintain trust the variety is not contaminated or conformised with clones, interbreeding, cross pollination, localized contamination of pollen

h. to maintain a link to original maize or corn varieties

Answer 2

Just about, there are still a lot of open-pollinated varieties grown on a small scale.  I am a retired corn breeder from a university and maintained almost a hundred open-pollinated varieties to keep from losing the genetic diversity.  I was surprised at the number of requests of seed from people that preferred them over hybrids.  Today a lot of organic farmers grow the open-pollinated varieties.  I don't think it is a requirement, but they can save their own seed.  There are several varieties grown for the novelty of them.  A few I grew that people kept requesting, the #1 requested was Pencil cob shoe-peg people preferred it to sweet corn for the table and for it's ease of shelling,  One that I called Missouri Corn Cob Pipe (not sure if that was it's actual name except it was out of Missouri), it had a very large cob with a large hollow in the middle and used to make corn cob pipes.  The Indian corns for their variety of colors.  There was Strawberry pop Corn, strawberry colored and about the size and shape of a large strawberry.  Then there were several, both yellow and white varieties that the people just seemed to prefer to hybrid corn.  So while hybrid corn has pretty well taken over, the open-pollinated varieties are still out there hanging on.