Wheat, the dominant crop of the Great Plains, is losing the race for higher yields — and returns to the grower — to corn and soybeans. As a result, aided by USDA land-retirement programs, wheat plantings have shrunk for years. Seed companies tried to create higher-yielding hybrid wheat in the 1970s and 1980s but the work became too expensive, U-Nebraska plant breeder Stephen Baenziger told Harvest Public Media. “Now, a handful of university wheat breeding programs including UNL (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Texas A&M are putting part of their seed science efforts toward hybrids.” The so-called public breeding programs of universities are a major source of wheat varieties.
There are far more corn breeders than wheat breeders, says Baenziger, and wheat is more difficult than corn when it comes to controlling pollination. “It could be another 5-10 years before there is a breakthrough with hybrid wheat,” says Harvest Public Media. “Syngenta, Bayer, and DuPont have each said they have hybrid wheat in the works. If they are the first to develop a high-yielding hybrid, it could help them corner the market for wheat seed.”