Sponsored by: Bayer CropScience
The major-leaguers in the corn hybrid game offer the following top picks to consider this coming playing season. This list was not intended to be comprehensive; growers should also consider university and company trial data before making a selection.
Hybrids are listed alphabetically by company, grouped into three relative maturity (RM) zones:
Most herbicide and insect traits listed are abbreviated. They are: Clearfield (CL), Liberty Link (LL), Roundup Ready (RR), YieldGard (YG).
Available as conventional, YG/Bt & RR hybrid.
Excellent yield potential.
Very good late-season plant health, stalk strength.
Outstanding yield potential.
Consistent performance on highly productive soils.
Excellent late-season intactness.
Available as conventional & RR hybrid.
Outstanding yield for maturity.
Consistent performance on highly productive soils.
Excellent health & late-season plant intactness.
Available as conventional & RR hybrid.
Consistent performance across variable soil types.
Excellent late-season stalk & root strength; excellent emergence under cool, wet conditions.
YG hybrid; high yield potential.
Very good emergence & seedling growth.
Looks good throughout season.
Excellent staygreen & late-season harvest appearance.
Conventional hybrid; girthy ear.
Very dependable, especially in muck soils.
Fast emergence & early vigor.
Best adaptation zones: northern IN, OH, IL, southern MI.
RR hybrid; similar to 5012.
Big yields at high populations & in muck soils of northern IN.
NK603 RR event; needs channeling into domestic markets.
Best adaptation zones: northern IN, OH, IL, southern MI.
YG hybrid; excellent emergence.
Fast drydown.
Performs in diverse soil types.
Best adaptation zones: northern IN, OH, IL, southern MI.
RR/YG hybrid.
Exceptional emergence, early season growth.
High yield potential; consistent ear size at high populations.
Unusually loose husk for rapid grain drydown.
RR/YG hybrid.
Exceptional yield potential.
Large flex-ear type adapted to low-population sandy soils.
High digestibility for corn silage.
RR/YG hybrid; high yield.
Improved late-season stalks versus similar genetics.
Exceptional roots resist lodging.
Also available in YG only & conventional versions.
YG hybrid; excellent stalks, roots.
Exceptional yields at this maturity.
Excellent grain quality, test weight.
Performs well in dry conditions.
RR/YG hybrid; uses 603 RR event.
Well-adapted to 90- to 100-day zones East & West.
High yielding for its maturity.
Excellent plant integrity, standability, drought & stress tolerance.
Similar background to 1702.
Well-adapted to 90- to 100-day zones East & West.
Excellent top-end yield across environments.
Excellent drought & stress tolerance.
RR/YG hybrid; uses 603 RR event.
Well-adapted East-West to 100- to 105-day zones.
Medium to medium-short height; medium-placed ears.
Excellent for continuous corn or rotated ground.
Similar background to 2145.
Widely adapted to 100- to 110-day zones.
Excellent for high-yield, non-drought environments.
Prefers fertile, loamy soils rotated with beans.
RR/YG hybrid; high yield potential.
Excellent emergence, seedling vigor, stalks & roots.
Early flowering; very good test weight.
RR/YG hybrid.
Excellent roots & stalks.
Very good emergence.
Very good grain quality, test weight & drydown.
YG hybrid; consistent performance.
Wide adaption.
Excellent root & stalk strength.
Very good greensnap tolerance & defensive traits.
Conventional hybrid.
Excellent emergence & roots.
Very good seedling growth & stalk strength; consistent performance.
Widely adapted.
Top-end yield; stability across range of environments.
Widely adapted; good grain quality.
Solid agronomics; excellent performance north & south of zone.
Outstanding yield potential.
Widely adapted; outstanding emergence & early vigor.
RR hybrid; moves south of zone.
YG/RR hybrid; top-end yield; widely adapted.
Outstanding emergence, early vigor.
Medium-high to high plant populations for top performance.
YG hybrid; excellent performance.
Widely adapted.
Outstanding emergence, early vigor.
Medium-high to high plant populations for top performance.
YG hybrid.
Medium tall; excellent test weight.
Good late-season health.
YG hybrid.
Maintains ear height over rough terrain for easy harvesting.
Fills ears to tip; high test weight.
YG hybrid.
Medium height; impressive staygreen; excellent standability.
Versatile, with solid performance.
Good resistance to Northern leaf diseases; very good grain quality.
Conventional hybrid; excellent yield for its maturity.
Great choice for early silage.
Excellent performance in different soils & tillages.
YG/Bt version: 3941Bt (92-day RM).
YG hybrid.
Uniform ear size; good husk coverage; excellent yield, grain quality.
Good choice for grain or silage.
Excellent emergence.
Conventional hybrid.
Superior stress tolerance & emergence; fast drydown.
Excellent yield, good Southern movement for maturity.
Good natural tolerance to European corn borer.
YG hybrid; superior yield, disease tolerance.
Super staygreen & plant intactness.
Very good standability.
Makes high-tonnage silage.
YG hybrid.
Excellent yields; rapid drydown.
Great stress tolerance.
Wide adaptability across soil types & tillage systems.
Conventional hybrid.
Medium-low ear placement.
East to West adaptation.
Consistent performance across soil types & tillage systems.
RR hybrid; high yield potential across all environments.
Excellent staygreen & late-season intactness.
Well-developed, girthy ears.
Conventional hybrid; excellent yield potential.
Girthy ears with medium flex.
Superb staygreen & fall intactness.
Full-season in short-season areas.
Herculex I hybrid.
1877's yield.
Good fall drydown; excellent quality; high test weight.
Strong stalks, roots allow for pushing plant populations.
Conventional hybrid; competitive yields within its maturity.
Strong agronomic package.
Flowers later than products of similar maturity.
Good stalk & root strength; excellent ear retention; dries fast.
Herculex I hybrid; strong emergence; early vigor.
Best attributes of 2395.
Superior quality, high test weight.
Very good drought tolerance under tough growing conditions.
Herculex I hybrid.
2525's strengths.
Excellent emergence & early vigor.
Very good drought-stress tolerance; fast fall drydown.
RR hybrid; produced 6% higher yields than 1490R in company trials.
Improved ear type, more girth.
Adapts well to variable soil types.
Dual-purpose silage or grain hybrid.
YG hybrid; impressive gains in yield, drydown compared to 2399B.
Unique genetic background.
Tall with very good root strength, standability.
High test weight.
Conventional hybrid.
Excellent yields, quick drydown.
Uniform ear style adapts well to higher plant populations.
Option for growers in “early corn planted early” areas.
RR hybrid; high yields, test weight.
Excellent emergence & early growth.
Ideal for no-till or early planting.
Adapted to a wide range of soil types, including high-pH soils.
Good stability across yield levels.
Good drydown; impressive yield.
Good early growth, drought tolerance.
Good resistance to head smut, common rust; some resistance to Northern leaf blight.
Consistent yields; above-average stalk strength.
Good drought tolerance.
Above-average resistance to anthracnose stalk rot, head smut, common rust; moderate resistance to Gib-berella ear rot, Northern leaf blight.
YG/CL hybrid; exceptional yield.
Strong drought tolerance; good overall stability.
Good early growth, above-average staygreen; good ear retention.
Above-average test weight.
YG hybrid; exceptional yield.
Short plant stature, good stalks, very good late-season plant health.
Above-average resistance to anthracnose stalk rot.
Strong against drought.
Conventional hybrid.
Very good yield potential.
Good stalk strength, plant health.
Well-adapted for early maturity zones.
YG/LL hybrid.
Excellent yield potential.
Very good root strength.
Strong early season vigor, emergence.
YG/LL hybrid; good yield potential.
Very good agronomic package; wide adaptation.
Very good emergence, seedling vigor.
LL, widely adapted hybrid.
Consistent across environments.
Excellent companion to Bt/LL for insect resistance management.
Tolerance to in-crop applications of Roundup Ultra.
Stable, high-yield performance even in dry conditions.
Early vigor for Northern areas.
Excellent yield-to-moisture ratio.
Impressive yield for maturity.
Fast early canopy development.
Tall plant with excellent roots.
Exceptional yield-to-moisture ratio.
High-yielding, high test-weight anchor hybrid.
Copes well with stress situations.
Excellent health & standability.
CL hybrid.
Base: W3810.
Copes well with stress situations.
Excellent health, standability.
Available as a conventional, YG/Bt or RR hybrid.
Excellent yield for maturity.
Excellent late-season plant intactness even as it moves South.
Adapted to wide variety of soil, management types.
Conventional hybrid.
Excellent emergence, early plant vigor.
Excellent grain quality, accepted as food-grade product.
Excellent late-season intactness.
Excellent yield for maturity.
Excellent late-season intactness even as it moves South.
Adapted to a wide variety of soil, management types.
Works well in wide or narrow rows at higher plant populations.
Available as conventional, YG/Bt, RR or Bt/RR hybrid.
Excellent yield.
Excellent adaptability to wide variety of soil types.
Residue-Proven hybrid.
High yields in reduced tillage.
Excellent stalk strength; very good roots & disease package.
Consistent performance over a wide range of growing conditions.
RR/YG, Residue-Proven hybrid.
Cost-effective program for unsurpassed weed control.
Season-long corn borer protection.
RR/YG hybrid.
Excellent test weight.
Very good stalks, staygreen & intactness.
Cost-efficient weed, pest control.
YG/CL hybrid.
Top yields in prairie soils; excellent stalk, root strength.
Best adaptation zones: central & northern IN, OH, IL & southern MI.
Conventional hybrid.
Extractable starch for premiums.
Higher yield than 5166 with similar health characteristics.
Best adaptation zones: central & northern IN, OH, IL & southern MI.
YG/LL hybrid; widely adapted.
Great emergence, early vigor.
Excellent flex ear potential.
Best adaptation zones: southern MI, northern, central & southern IN, OH, IL & northern KY.
YG hybrid; superior test weight.
Excellent gray leaf spot tolerance.
Defensive, with high yields.
Best adaptation zones: central & southern IN, OH, IL & KY.
YG hybrid.
Excellent yield potential for cool & hot growing seasons.
Fixed ear type, needs population with good fertility.
Prefers high-organic-matter soils.
RR/YG hybrid.
Great stalk quality & plant staygreen.
Diverse genetics; exceptional yields.
Moves North well on black, well-drained, high-organic-matter soils.
RR hybrid; medium tall.
Top-end yield ability with exceptional heat tolerance.
Requires aggressive fertility rates to maximize yield.
Available in a conventional version.
YG/LL hybrid.
Great late-season intactness.
Flex ear type; adapts to a large range of densities, soil types.
Great root strength & stalk quality.
Similar background to 438 B.
RR/YG hybrid; uses 603 RR event.
Excellent East-West adaptation in 105- to 115-day zones.
Tall plant with medium to medium-high ear placement.
Excellent East-West adaptation in 105- to 110-day zones.
Medium short; excellent plant integrity.
Girthy, moderately determinate ears.
Performs best at higher populations.
Excellent East-West adaptation in 105- to 115-day zones.
Medium plant & ear height.
Consistent high yields; excellent standability; moderately flexible ears.
Good test weight.
Similar background to 7705 R; uses 603 RR event.
Best in Western environment & on loamy soils.
Very high yield potential.
For high-yielding, high-management environment.
RR/YG hybrid.
Excellent emergence & seedling growth.
Very good grain quality & test weight.
Widely adapted in central & eastern Corn Belt.
RR/YG hybrid; high test weight.
Excellent emergence & seedling growth.
Very good stalk strength & greensnap tolerance.
Residue-Proven hybrid.
Wide adaption with consistent performance.
Very good foliar disease package.
Excellent grain quality; high yields in reduced-tillage systems.
Conventional hybrid; excellent seedling growth.
Very good emergence.
Good ear flex for adaptation to a broad range of plant populations.
Very good foliar disease package.
CL hybrid.
Top-end yield on highly managed or irrigated acres.
Excellent full-season hybrid north of zone.
Tall plant; good agronomics.
CL hybrid.
Excellent emergence & vigor for no-till & early planting.
Good grain quality, heavy test weight, excellent late-season health.
Determinate ear; high populations give optimum performance.
RR hybrid; broadly adapted.
Good gray leaf spot tolerance.
Medium tall; moderate ear flex offers plant population flexibility.
RR/YG hybrid; medium tall.
Moderate ear flex offers plant population flexibility.
Broadly adapted; good gray leaf spot tolerance.
Good overall agronomics.
YG hybrid.
Good disease tolerance.
Excels in high-pH problem fields.
CL hybrid.
Solid combination of yield & agronomic traits.
YG hybrid.
Medium tall; excellent fall health.
Good resistance to leaf diseases.
Extremely high test weight with food-grade qualities.
RR hybrid.
Excellent test weight, grain quality.
Widely adapted to many soil types.
Strong disease tolerance.
CL hybrid; excellent stalks & roots.
Great late-season eye appeal; very good emergence.
Good natural tolerance to European corn borer.
YG hybrid version of conventional 5555 (Quad 5); RR version (5685RR).
Late-season plant intactness.
Excellent ear flex.
Responds to late nitrogen.
Conventional hybrid; top-end yield.
Responds very well to moderate to high populations & late nitrogen applications.
Natural tolerance to corn borer.
YG/Bt version: 5961Bt.
RR version of 6192.
Very high yield potential.
Tall plant; high tonnage for silage & solid harvest standability.
Very good ear flex for moderate or high populations.
CL hybrid; good fall intactness.
Large girthy ears; exceptional yields at low & medium populations.
Excellent root & stalk strength.
Good seedling vigor for early planting & reduced tillage.
RR hybrid; fast drydown.
Medium tall with dark green color.
Flex ear adapts well to low & medium planting populations.
Good seedling vigor for early planting, reduced tillage.
CL hybrid; fast early season growth; early canopy development.
Medium-sized, fixed ear.
Strong gray leaf spot tolerance; superb late-season health.
Medium height; large, girthy ears.
YG hybrid; medium tall.
Fast drydown.
Flex ear adapts to low & medium planting populations.
Adaptability across all soil types & tillage systems.
Herculex I hybrid; best of 2657.
Very good fall staygreen; strong standability.
Excellent drought-stress tolerance.
Outstanding yields when planted North as a full-season.
Conventional, moderately tall hybrid.
Excellent drought-stress tolerance, fall staygreen, ear retention.
Very good grain quality.
Strong companion to 2722IMI, with improved ear flex.
Herculex I hybrid.
Excellent plant health, standability.
Fixed ear; requires high plant densities to maximize yield.
Very responsive to high fertility & narrow rows.
Conventional hybrid; well-adapted to eastern Corn Belt.
Excellent staygreen, fall plant health.
Slender ear type with deep kernels requires higher plant populations.
Dual-purpose silage or grain hybrid.
RR/YG hybrid; ideal for high-heat Southern environments.
Highly rated as silage hybrid.
Long, flexible ears produce at moderate populations in irrigated & non-irrigated situations.
Excellent for “early corn planted early” in 110-day & later zones.
Conventional hybrid; high yield.
Draws from genetic backgrounds of 4771, 5169 & 5411.
Excellent emergence, early growth for no-till & early planting.
Improved gray leaf spot tolerance, staygreen & fall health versus 4880.
RR/YG hybrid; excellent yield.
Cold tolerance & early tasseling for 108- to 110-day maturity zones.
Medium populations for top yields.
Better-than-average tolerance to high-pH soils.
YG hybrid; outstanding yield.
Stable performance across environments; strong drought tolerance.
Suitable for high-yield irrigated or dryland conditions.
Good drydown; very good test weight, yellow food corn quality.
Impressive yield potential; excellent drought tolerance.
Good early growth; good drydown; very good test weight.
Favorable disease-resistance package.
Moderate plant height, above-average roots & stalks.
YG hybrid; exceptional yield.
Very good drought tolerance; good early growth, root strength.
Short stature.
Moderate resistance to corn earworm; good resistance to fall armyworm.
Moderate to high yield.
Good roots; average stalks.
Good early growth; strong drought tolerance; widely adapted.
Good Southern leaf blight resistance.
YG/LL hybrid.
High yield potential.
Excellent plant health.
Best adapted for the east-central & eastern Corn Belt.
YG/LL hybrid.
Very good yield potential.
Excellent agronomic package.
Best in medium- to fine-textured soils.
Conventional hybrid.
Widely adapted, East to West.
Fast early growth; top drought tolerance.
Very high yield potential.
CL hybrid.
High yielder.
Adapted for Western Corn Belt.
High-yielding, YG hybrid.
Base: W3810.
Copes well with stress situations.
Excellent health & standability.
YG/RR hybrid. Base W5540.
Stable yield performance.
Strong across environments.
Excellent harvestability.
YG hybrid; tall, robust plant.
Consistent, top-end yields.
Excellent package of yield & solid agronomics.
YG hybrid.
Reliable, high-yield performance.
Superb gray leaf spot tolerance.
High test weight.
Conventional hybrid.
Outstanding yield potential.
Very fast drydown.
Adapted to lower plant populations because of outstanding ear flex.
Conventional hybrid; excellent emergence for early planting.
Consistent yield.
Very good root strength & resistance to gray leaf spot, Southern leaf blight.
Excellent stalk strength.
CL hybrid; performance in all soils.
Excellent flex ear potential.
Excellent plant health.
Best adaptation zones: southern IN, OH, IL & northern KY.
YG/RR hybrid; excellent flex ear.
Excellent trait hybrid for South.
Excellent heat & stress tolerance; NK603 RR transgenic event.
Best adaptation zones: southern IN, IL, OH & northern KY.
Conventional food-grade hybrid; excellent grain quality.
Qualifies for Identity Preserved Grain Quality lists.
Good root strength.
Best adaptation zones: central & southern IN, OH, IL & northern KY.
Conventional white corn hybrid.
Excellent test weight, grain quality.
Better standability than 5912W.
Best adaptation zones: central & southern IN, OH, IL & northern KY.
RR/YG hybrid.
Solid plant health, staygreen & intactness.
Southern-style genetics with improved emergence, early season growth.
Moves East & South well.
Conventional hybrid.
Excellent heat, drought tolerance.
Exceptional disease package.
Flex-ear type; adapts to wide range of plant densities, soil types.
RR hybrid; available in CL version.
Exceptional stalk quality, disease resistance.
Performs well in hot, humid areas.
Performs well for grain or silage.
Similar background to 5165 B.
RR/YG hybrid; uses 603 RR event.
Strong East-West adaptation in 110- to 115-day zones.
Medium to medium tall; medium ear placement.
Best adapted to Western environments in 110- to 120-day zones.
Large, girthy ears; high yields.
Very responsive to high-yield environments, management inputs.
Shows some lack of tolerance to anthracnose.
Similar to 6121.
Large, girthy ear; high yield.
Manage roots carefully.
Excellent grain quality.
Very healthy, fixed-ear type.
Excellent standability; drought tolerance.
Handles wide variety of environments.
Treat as a full-season 5060 that can move South.
RR/YG/Residue-Proven hybrid.
High yields in reduced-tillage.
Consistent performance in tough environments.
RR hybrid.
Southern virus complex tolerance.
Excellent stalk & root strength.
Excellent grain quality, test weight.
RR/YG hybrid.
Very good disease package for South.
Excellent yield for maturity.
RR hybrid; excellent emergence.
Very good disease package for South.
Good top-end yield.
Very good seedling growth.
YG hybrid.
Excels in high-yielding, irrigated areas, especially in South & West.
High tolerance to heat stress.
Good emergence; excellent early vigor & performance at moderate & high plant populations.
Medium- to full-season yields, especially in Central, Eastern areas.
Good plant health; wide adaptability for Southern & Eastern areas.
Excellent ear flex.
YG hybrid.
Good plant health, wide adaptability for Southern & Eastern areas.
Excellent ear flex allows plant population flexibility.
Tall with good stalk quality.
RR hybrid; widely adapted.
High yield across environments.
Good late-season plant health & staygreen.
Large girthy ear; good test weight.
Tall, high-yielding hybrid.
Good late-season health provides height & ear flex needed on stress soils.
Medium tall; high yield potential.
Very good test weight.
Strong emergence with excellent seedling vigor.
Performs best in corn-soybean rotation.
High yield potential.
Very good early vigor when planted in cold soils.
Very good late-season plant health.
Big leafy hybrid.
Good emergence.
Fast growth.
Disease tolerance.
CL hybrid; very consistent yields in tough conditions; solid standability.
Drought, heat stress tolerance.
Natural tolerance to corn borer.
High rating for extractable starch.
High extractable starch; high yields on light or prairie soils.
Very good ear flex for excellent performance at moderate populations.
Great late-season health & intactness; great for silage.
YG/Bt version: 6344Bt.
YG/Roundup Ultra resistance; yield potential of 6301Bt.
Great plant intactness & late-season staygreen.
Super choice for grain or silage.
Excellent for no-till & corn-on-corn.
RR version of 6259; high yield.
Excellent test weight, grain quality.
Good ear flex, works best at moderate populations.
Excellent drought & heat tolerance.
YG hybrid; good canopy development; good vigor for early planting.
Good fall intactness.
High yields over many soil types & tillage systems.
CL hybrid; excellent vigor & plant health for early planting.
Fast drydown; outstanding yields under irrigation.
Medium tall with moderately low ear placement; moderately girthy ears
Conventional hybrid; superior plant health for performance in South.
High yield trial performance.
Very good response to stress.
Broad adaptation across Corn Belt.
Herculex I hybrid; competitive yields; many of 2784 traits.
Moderately tall with excellent standability, staygreen, ear retention, late-season intactness.
Very good drought-stress tolerance.
Conventional version of 2833.
Top-end yield potential; excellent yield stability.
Medium tall; girthy, semi-flex ears.
Also available as CL hybrid 2A775.
Herculex I hybrid.
Best attributes of 2799.
Moderately tall; strong stalks & roots.
Excellent drought-stress tolerance; wide adaptation.
Herculex hybrid; yield performance of 2833.
High yields; drought-stress tolerance.
Excellent yield stability across environments, management practices.
Medium tall, with girthy ears.
YG hybrid; yields like 5411.
Draws on genetic backgrounds of 5411, 4990B.
Improved gray leaf spot tolerance over 4880 products.
Excellent option for silage producers.
YG hybrid; excellent yield.
Highest gray leaf spot tolerance of any 5-series NC+ corn hybrid.
Works in many stressful situations.
Medium to high plant populations for top yields.
YG hybrid; excellent gray leaf spot tolerance.
Top tolerance to drought stress.
Strong roots; excellent staygreen.
Excellent adaptation to early planting & high-residue fields.
RR hybrid; improved version of 6960R with higher yield potential.
Excellent heat/drought tolerance for southern Corn Belt.
Excellent native corn borer tolerance; highly flexible ear.
High yield potential; gray leaf spot resistance.
Adaptable, moderately tall; good early growth, root strength.
Reliable drought tolerance; average stalk strength; very good staygreen.
Above-average grain drydown.
Short structure; strong stalks; outstanding late-season plant health.
Good roots; above-average drought tolerance.
Strong performance in moderate- to high-yield environments.
Good test weight; fast drydown.
Top-end yield.
Moderate plant stature, above-average roots, strong stalks.
Performance stability across yield levels; good drought tolerance.
Very good drydown, test weight.
Excellent yield; good early growth.
Very good drought tolerance & staygreen; above-average stalks.
Below average for mid-season, brittle-stalk resistance.
Performs well against head smut.
YG/LL hybrid.
High yield potential.
Well adapted for central & western Corn Belt.
Good stalk strength, flex ear, drought tolerance.
CL hybrid; consistent yields.
Excellent test weight; flex ear.
Moderate gray leaf spot resistance.
Adapted primarily for eastern Corn Belt.
YG hybrid.
Impressive, stable yield performance.
Superior gray leaf spot tolerance.
Ideal for continuous corn.
CL hybrid, base: W8540.
Stable, high-yielding hybrid.
Very good stalk quality.
Excellent plant health, staygreen.
YG hybrid; base: W8540.
High performance, stable.
Excellent plant health & staygreen.
Doesn't bow to dry conditions.