Short corn is officially coming to the Northeast next year as promising silage results create an opening for companies to market it in the region.
Bayer is making nine short-corn varieties available next year through its “groundbreakers” program that targets specific growers. Erica Strittmatter, the company’s North American corn traits launch lead, says trials on silage short corn in the U.S. and Italy show greater milk production potential and better digestibility in cows.
“We just saw a real opportunity going into 2026 to expand into that market,” she says.
Bayer is marketing short corn as part of its Preceon Smart Corn system that incorporates grower data, including yield and management practices, into its Climate FieldView precision ag platform to recommend fields to place short-stature hybrids. A requirement of the groundbreakers program is that a farmer must be on Climate FieldView.
Some Northeast farmers have been testing short-stature corn for a few years. Last year at Penn State’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Landisville, Pa., a 1.5-acre plot of Bayer short-stature corn was planted. The varieties stood about 2 feet shorter than conventional varieties. Ear height was 31 inches, compared to 46 inches for conventional types.
The short-stature hybrids were also thicker at the base and had slightly thicker ears. Base stalk diameter for short-stature hybrids averaged 27 millimeters vs. 22 millimeters, while ear stalk diameter averaged 21 millimeters vs. 18 millimeters.
The shorter plant height is a result of shortening the internodes toward the base of the plant.
Lindsay Battle, Bayer’s innovation and launch lead for regional crops, says about 600 growers planted 80,000 acres of short corn this season, a number she expects to grow to about 200,000 acres next year.
“When we made the decision to pivot and make more silage available in the Northeast, that hadn’t been a part of the production plan,” she says. “So, what we’re doing is we’re going for the opportunity to maximize acres in 2026, but the great news is that going into 2027, we’ll have the ability to forecast that, and so … we can make sure we’re growing more product to supply that market in 2027.”
All of Bayer’s short-stature hybrids are conventionally bred, non-GMO varieties. The company hopes to roll out a GMO short-stature corn in 2027, pending regulatory approval.
Battle says the GMO version will be more consistent and have longer and better maturity ranges. The initial GMO lineup, she says, will have base glyphosate and glufosinate tolerances, along with Tricepta for aboveground insect control. Belowground control for corn rootworm and other insects is planned for 2028, with additional traited varieties rolling out in future years.
Other companies plan rollouts
During its 2024 investor day in New York City, Corteva announced plans to launch its own version of short-stature corn, a PowerCore Enlist variety, by 2027.
Stine Seeds, an independent seed company, has been tinkering with shorter-stature corn for more than a decade, says Brian Hartman, the company’s national corn product manager.
He says the company has introduced over 100 different shorter-stature hybrids, going as low as 5 feet with 20-inch ear height.
Hartman says short corn has been surprisingly effective for corn silage despite conventional wisdom that the industry favors taller corn for more tonnage. A big reason is that short-stature fields can handle 5% to 10% higher planting populations than traditional varieties, making up for that potentially lost tonnage.
"We've worked with a number of nutritionists, and they actually like the shorter corn strictly because it's more grain ... better grain value, better silage values,” Hartman says. “Short is a relative term. ... We've had corn as low as 60 inches with 20-inch ear height. We know that doesn't work. But we'll get them to increase population 5%, 10%. ... That way, they'll get the tonnage that they need to meet their silage needs, plus have better nutritional value because they've got more grain mixed in with that silage."