Purpose

The UW corn research program, which includes the only silage breeding program in the U.S. public sector, has created unique germplasm specifically designed to produce high-quality inbreds for use as parents for silage hybrids. Our program is also dedicated to determining the most appropriate germplasm for use as fermentable feedstock for energy production. Our objectives are to 1) improve corn germplasm by selection and other genetic methods, as well as develop and release adapted inbreds for use as parents of hybrids, 2) further improve technologies of compositional assessment, and 3) improve the forage yield and compositional attributes of corn germplasm as a genetic resource to produce ligno-cellulosic feedstock material for bioconversion.

The program is a broad-based effort including research on breeding, crop management, animal nutrition, and cell wall compositional analysis. We encourage critical review of our work so that we can incorporate new information on silage and biofeedstock productivity, quality, and germplasm that will be relevant and readily available to all.

The UW corn breeding program has one additional benefit that is critical for the continued success of the corn breeding industry. It is an outstanding training opportunity for graduate students to become thoroughly acquainted with the breeding procedures used to produce hybrids.