Everything You Need to Know About Hybrid Traits
Feb 04, 2025
Mike Tufte
Seed Specialist
To bring you the most relevant information on hybrid traits in this Agronomy update, Key Cooperative Seed Specialist Mike Tufte interviews Mitch Larson, Winfield United's Market Development Agronomist.
This Article Includes:
Back in 1920, there was a professor at Iowa State University by the name of Perry Greely Holden. He was the first professor of Agronomy in the United States. Professor Holden believed that if you kept your best-looking seeds from this year’s harvest to use for next year’s planting, your yield would continuously rise. To that point in time, that was true. However, they were using open pollination, meaning all plants were pollinators. Silks were getting pollen from male and female plants.
Right around that time, a guy by the name of Henry A Wallace started to do some experimenting of his own on the family farm. He had learned from Professor Holden at Iowa State, but Wallace questioned Professor Holden’s theory. Through his research, he found that he could get just as good (if not better) yield by crossing both the good-looking corn with the less desirable looking corn. The difference was he had adopted the practice of detasseling, rather than open pollination. Then in 1923, Henry A Wallace and his friend George Kurtzweid entered a yield contest ran through Iowa State University. Wallace developed a hybrid he called “Copper Cross”. They planted it on an isolated acre of Kurtzweid’s land in what is now Olde Town Altoona, Iowa. It was the first ever acre of hybrid seed corn via new breeding practices. This opened a whole new world of corn breeding that we still use today.
Fast forward to 1974. Monsanto developed a chemistry we refer to as glyphosate, or Roundup. This chemistry was widely used to control weeds, but it was known as the kill-all. No crop could withstand the power that it possessed. But in 1996, breeders found a way to insert the Roundup Ready trait into the cells of a soybean plant, making it immune to the glyphosate salt. Roundup Ready corn subsequently came in 1998. This was the first trait in modern corn production, and the first of many!
Today there are five companies breeding corn. Three of them have their own traits. Of those three trait providers, we rely heavily on two: Bayer and Corteva. Bayer (owner of Dekalb) purchased Monsanto in 2018. Prior to that, Monsanto had purchased Holden Foundation Seed in 1997. Holden Foundation Seed was founded by Roland Holden, whom I’m told is a descendant of Professor Holden’s family tree. Corteva (owner of Brevant) was the product of the Dow Agrosciences and Du Pont merger in 2015. Prior to that, in 1999, Du Pont became the sole owner of Pioneer Hi-Bred. Pioneer Hi-Bred was started in 1926 by Henry A Wallace.
Why is this important? Why am I laying out this history? Well, that was the start of corn and traits as we know it. Today, Dekalb and Brevant bring us several different trait platforms to pick from. Seed traits can be tricky. There are similarities between them, but there are also some substantial differences that we must understand.
Mitch, can you touch on the importance of traits, their history, and how we utilize them for maximum yield potential?
As we dive into the trait platforms, let’s start with the basic traits. How do you compare AM (AcreMax) to VT2P (VT Double Pro)?
How would you compare Dekalb’s Trecepta to Brevant’s Power Core Enlist?
Speaking of new traits phasing some older ones out, Bayer has brought out the VT4P to complement their very own SS (SmartStax). Tell us a little about that.
Brevant has a similar product in it’s Qrome. How does that stack up?
When it comes to multiple year corn-on-corn, we have some heavy hitters on the market. Vorceed and StaxPro both bring us some exciting new technology. Tell us more about that!
That’s a good rundown on the traits we have to offer. What other pertinent information do you think our producers need to be aware of?
I’ll leave you with one last thought. The way we farm has evolved over time. So have the pests we deal with, and we always find a way to combat them. Whether you’re a third, fourth, sixth, or eighth generation farmer, what do you think your earlier generations would say if they could see the technology we have and the way we get to farm today? What would they say if they could see the yields your farm is capable of? It’s truly astounding!
Seed Specialist
To bring you the most relevant information on hybrid traits in this Agronomy update, Key Cooperative Seed Specialist Mike Tufte interviews Mitch Larson, Winfield United's Market Development Agronomist.
This Article Includes:
- History of Hybrids
- Hybrids Today
- The Importance of Traits
- AM (AcreMax) vs. VT2P (VT Double Pro)
- Trecepta vs. Power Core Enlist
- VT4P, SS (SmartStax) and Qrome
- Vorceed vs. StaxPro
- Trait Information to Note
History of Hybrids
Hybrid seed corn has been around since the 1800s. There is quite a bit of “discussion” between Iowa and Illinois as to who really came up with the idea. As a third party originally from a different state entirely, I tend to agree that it came from Iowa. Hybrid seed corn was a big step for agriculture, but the revolution of seed corn came back in 1923.Back in 1920, there was a professor at Iowa State University by the name of Perry Greely Holden. He was the first professor of Agronomy in the United States. Professor Holden believed that if you kept your best-looking seeds from this year’s harvest to use for next year’s planting, your yield would continuously rise. To that point in time, that was true. However, they were using open pollination, meaning all plants were pollinators. Silks were getting pollen from male and female plants.
Right around that time, a guy by the name of Henry A Wallace started to do some experimenting of his own on the family farm. He had learned from Professor Holden at Iowa State, but Wallace questioned Professor Holden’s theory. Through his research, he found that he could get just as good (if not better) yield by crossing both the good-looking corn with the less desirable looking corn. The difference was he had adopted the practice of detasseling, rather than open pollination. Then in 1923, Henry A Wallace and his friend George Kurtzweid entered a yield contest ran through Iowa State University. Wallace developed a hybrid he called “Copper Cross”. They planted it on an isolated acre of Kurtzweid’s land in what is now Olde Town Altoona, Iowa. It was the first ever acre of hybrid seed corn via new breeding practices. This opened a whole new world of corn breeding that we still use today.
Fast forward to 1974. Monsanto developed a chemistry we refer to as glyphosate, or Roundup. This chemistry was widely used to control weeds, but it was known as the kill-all. No crop could withstand the power that it possessed. But in 1996, breeders found a way to insert the Roundup Ready trait into the cells of a soybean plant, making it immune to the glyphosate salt. Roundup Ready corn subsequently came in 1998. This was the first trait in modern corn production, and the first of many!
Hybrids Today
Today there are five companies breeding corn. Three of them have their own traits. Of those three trait providers, we rely heavily on two: Bayer and Corteva. Bayer (owner of Dekalb) purchased Monsanto in 2018. Prior to that, Monsanto had purchased Holden Foundation Seed in 1997. Holden Foundation Seed was founded by Roland Holden, whom I’m told is a descendant of Professor Holden’s family tree. Corteva (owner of Brevant) was the product of the Dow Agrosciences and Du Pont merger in 2015. Prior to that, in 1999, Du Pont became the sole owner of Pioneer Hi-Bred. Pioneer Hi-Bred was started in 1926 by Henry A Wallace.Why is this important? Why am I laying out this history? Well, that was the start of corn and traits as we know it. Today, Dekalb and Brevant bring us several different trait platforms to pick from. Seed traits can be tricky. There are similarities between them, but there are also some substantial differences that we must understand.
The Importance of Traits
To help compare traits, I reached out to my friend Mitch Larson, of Winfield United. Mitch has been Winfield’s Market Development Agronomist for the last 12 years. He’s a valuable asset to the Key Agronomy team and we are fortunate to have him share his wealth of knowledge with us.Mitch, can you touch on the importance of traits, their history, and how we utilize them for maximum yield potential?
- Maximizing yield starts with selecting the best-fitting genetics for each field and management style. From there we turn our attention to protecting those genetics from yield-robbing above and belowground pests. The challenge is each field (and grower) may have different levels of risk they need to protect against. Historically, we were often forced to take an “all or nothing” approach when selecting traited products—especially when dealing with CRW (Corn Rootworm). Recent advancements from Bayer and Corteva in individual traits and stacks, however, have given us more options to match and fine-tune the right level of protection to each field situation. It is important, however, to note the difference between a single protein trait (“event”), and a “pyramid” that “stacks” multiple trait events within it. Because of the variance in individual traits that make up each “stack” there are nuanced differences in insect performance and herbicide tolerances that exist. In general, though, we can group different trait stacks by the level of CRW protection they provide: None (VT2, TRE, AM, PCE), Good (VT4, SS, and Qrome), and Best (SmartStax Pro, Vorceed).
AM (AcreMax) vs. VT2P (VT Double Pro)
As we dive into the trait platforms, let’s start with the basic traits. How do you compare AM (AcreMax) to VT2P (VT Double Pro)?
- These two “competing” traits from Bayer (VT2) and Corteva (AM) offer similar attributes. Neither has any belowground activity on CRW, and they both have multiple aboveground trait protections. But because their aboveground stacks use different base traits, AM is tolerant to both glyphosate (Roundup) AND glufosinate (Liberty), whereas VT2 is tolerant only to glyphosate.
Trecepta vs. Power Core Enlist
How would you compare Dekalb’s Trecepta to Brevant’s Power Core Enlist?
- These two trait stacks are the “new kids” on the aboveground-only traited block, and are beginning to replace VT2 and AM traits in seed catalogs. Again, neither feature belowground CRW protection. TRE (Tricepta) adds the Viptera trait to the traditional VT2 stack for enhanced protection from aboveground worms like Western Bean Cutworm, Earworm, and True Armyworm. Like the VT2 stack, glufosinate cannot be sprayed on TRE corn. Powercore Enlist (PCE) from Corteva tweaks which base traits it draws its aboveground protection from, and as a result, picks up additional herbicide tolerances to Enlist and FOPs chemistries compared to its counterparts (always read and follow herbicide labels).
VT4P, SS (SmartStax) and Qrome
Speaking of new traits phasing some older ones out, Bayer has brought out the VT4P to complement their very own SS (SmartStax). Tell us a little about that.
- SS and VT4 stacks (both owned by Bayer) feature multiple MOAs for above and belowground insect protection. These stacks fall into the category of “Good” CRW protection and are great fits for fields that carry moderate, but not severe, CRW risk. Both stacks contain two individual MOAs for CRW protection but vary in which events they use. VT4 swaps out an older trait (currently used in SS) that can be difficult for corn breeders to work with, and replaces it with a new, novel RNAi event that attacks CRW slightly differently. This results in similar CRW protection as SmartStax but allows corn breeders to bring potentially higher yielding genetics to the market. However, because of the trait swap, VT4 products cannot be sprayed with glufosinate, but SS traited products can. An additional benefit to the new VT4 stack is the inclusion of the Viptera trait which gives the VT4 stack more robust protection to aboveground pests than the SS trait stack.
Brevant has a similar product in it’s Qrome. How does that stack up?
- Qrome (Corteva) entered the marketplace a few years ago and, like SmartStax, contains multiple above and belowground protections, placing it into the “Good” CRW protection category. Using a slightly different combination of traits and insertion processes, the Qrome stack allowed for enhanced genetic yield potential, however, it came at the expense of slightly reduced trait expression and CRW efficacy compared to SS. Like SS and VT4, Qrome should be positioned to “moderate” CRW risk acres, but due its reduced expression of CRW traits, should be expected to carry slightly lesser CRW protection compared to SS.
Vorceed vs. StaxPro
When it comes to multiple year corn-on-corn, we have some heavy hitters on the market. Vorceed and StaxPro both bring us some exciting new technology. Tell us more about that!
- Vorceed (Corteva) and SmartStax Pro (Bayer) are the two most potently traited CRW stacks available on the market. They both have multi-traited aboveground protections, but it’s their next-level CRW control that make them unique. Whereas SS, VT4, and Qrome have two MOAs against CRW, Vorceed and SmartStax Pro feature three MOAs, both including RNAi technology. Because of their additional MOAs, Vorceed and SmartStax Pro are best positioned to acres needing the highest levels of CRW protection. From an herbicide tolerance perspective, Vorceed does offer additional tolerance over SmartStax Pro to both Enlist and FOPS chemistries (always read and follow herbicide labels).
Trait Information to Note
That’s a good rundown on the traits we have to offer. What other pertinent information do you think our producers need to be aware of?
- We need to focus on selecting products with the right genetics AND the right traits to protect them. Planting the wrong genetics—even if it has the “perfect” trait—can lead to disappointing yields.
- We need to also remember that no trait is bullet-proof. The trait proteins are expressed in the roots, so CRW larvae still need to ingest enough root material to receive a lethal dosage. This means that heavy enough CRW populations can overrun even the best of traits. Consider soil-applied insecticides in addition to traited products and/or extending crop rotations to help overcome high populations of CRW.
- Predicting CRW risk pressure by crop rotation alone may not always work. Crafty CRW beetles have adapted in places that can put feeding pressure even on first-year corn. Working with your sales agronomist to evaluate in-season CRW beetle activity—even in soybean fields—can help you make the most informed trait decisions for the following year.
I’ll leave you with one last thought. The way we farm has evolved over time. So have the pests we deal with, and we always find a way to combat them. Whether you’re a third, fourth, sixth, or eighth generation farmer, what do you think your earlier generations would say if they could see the technology we have and the way we get to farm today? What would they say if they could see the yields your farm is capable of? It’s truly astounding!