Performance Tables
Discount Schedules
General Organic FAQOrganic Corn
As an Organic Farmer you know that your corn will be planted and grown under conditions quite different than “conventional” corn. You need hybrids that are specifically adapted to those organic conditions and cultural practices. At Albert Lea Seed we have been providing untreated and organic seed corn to organic farmers for more than 10 years. We have been listening to your needs and screening, selecting, and producing hybrids specifically for you.
- Where does Viking Organic corn come from? We have good long-term relationships with all of the major corn inbred suppliers in the U.S. We participate in hybrid testing programs that allow us to walk dozens of plots and screen data from thousands of plots. We then select the hybrids we believe have the most potential for organic farmers and evaluate them in plots across the upper midwest before we grow hybrid seed to offer to you in a Viking bag. Our Viking Organic Corn is produced on Certified Organic Farms in the upper midwest and cleaned and graded in a Certified Organic processing facility.
- Our investment in research and development. In 2008 we spent over $150,000 testing corn and soybean varieties. By putting in research plots for the major germplasm providers, we are participating in testing networks that allow us to see data from thousands of plots. In addition to this “network” testing, we also have our own multi-location replicated research plots looking specifically at current and potential organic hybrids, conventional, organic, and food-grade soybeans, and current and experimental seed treatments specifically for organic farmers. Our long-term goal is to develop a testing network of strip-trials on organic farms that allows us to screen potential organic hybrids under multiple organic environments.
- Organic Seed versus Conventionally-Produced Untreated Seed. As you probably know, the USDA National Organic Program rules require that organic farmers plant organic seed unless “an equivalent organically produced variety is not available”. Although there is a good supply of organic seed corn for planting, we may sell out of organic corn in a certain maturity. In that case we will work to provide untreated conventionally-produced seed. We will never substitute non-organic seed without notifying you.
- What are our selection criteria? What follows is a fairly complete list. We wish all of our hybrids met all of these criteria. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a perfect hybrid, and selecting hybrids is a mixture of art and science with a strong dose of compromise.
What are our selection Criteria? (Click to read)
- Yield and Yield Stability. Corn yield is the result of a lot of factors, some of which you can control and many of which you cannot. Our goal is to provide you with hybrids with the highest and most stable yield potential. By stable we mean the ability to consistently yield across different management systems and environmental conditions. It is our goal that the seed you plant should not be the limiting factor in your fields.
- Emergence and Early Season Growth. Even though most organic seed corn is planted in warmer soils, you still need that corn to emerge quickly and grow vigorously to get a jump on the weeds. In addition to making this a key selection criteria for Viking organic corn, we also offer OMRI-Listed seed coatings (such as ProfitCoat 8) that improve stand establishment.
- Root Strength. Hybrids that develop strong root systems not only stand better, they are better able to reach the moisture and nutrients that are crucial to plant and ear development. For you non-technical types, “Ear Development” is just a $10 word for yield.
- Stalk Strength. We all like corn that stands like a fencepost until you drive a combine through it. It makes for easier, faster combining and happier farmers.
- Height and Canopy. As a rule, taller hybrids tend to do a better job of slowing weed growth by providing more shade. All other factors being equal, these are the hybrids we choose.
- Ear Flex. This is a trait that corn breeders like to argue about, but we believe that some hybrids have a relatively “fixed” ear size while others have the ability to develop a girthier or a longer ear under low populations (if there is adequate moisture and fertility). This is an important characteristic if you are planting your corn under 30,000 seeds/acre or if you end up with a poor stand of corn due to environmental conditions or cultivator blight.
- Health. Most organic farms have healthy soils to begin with, so you might not think that corn plant health is an important characteristic. But the natural ability of the plant to withstand disease pressures from such fungal diseases as Rust, Anthracnose, and Grey Leaf Spot can improve yield, quality, and lodging resistance.
- Natural Insect Tolerance. Some hybrids just hold up better in the presence of European Corn Borer and other insects. No one is sure why, maybe these hybrids are higher in lignin or maybe they just don’t taste good. All other factors being equal, these are the hybrids we choose.
- Quality. High test weight and good quality grain are very important if you are selling your corn. Avoiding low test weight hybrids is easy but frankly it has been a struggle to find hybrids that yield milling quality corn while doing all the other things that organic farmers require. Viking 40-09N is the first hybrid we’ve found that brings all these traits together.