Copper Cross Hybrid Corn: The One That Started It All

A few years later, as drought and dust storms devastated farms across the Midwest, Pioneer 307 gave farmers another reason to keep planting. In 1936, nearly 30% of Iowa’s corn acres failed, making the search for better-performing hybrids more important than ever.

Fast forward nearly 100 years, and the work continues. Pioneer is still breeding corn hybrids, still studying what makes plants perform, and still looking for ways to help farmers get more from every acre.

On this episode of Outstanding in Your Field, Bryan Schrader, Carl Joern and Crystal Williams sit down with Pioneer’s resident historian Lance Gibson to explore the story behind Copper Cross and the milestones that helped shape both Pioneer and modern agriculture.

Dig deeper into Pioneer’s history: ⁠https://www.corteva.com/products-and-services/seeds/pioneer100.html⁠

Learn more about Henry Wallace: ⁠https://www.farmprogress.com/names-in-the-news/how-henry-a-wallace-sowed-seeds-of-success⁠

Outstanding in Your Field is the podcast created for farmers and powered by Pioneer Agronomy—bringing you trusted insights and proven solutions to fuel forward-thinking farming.

Hosted by agronomists Brian Schrader (eastern Indiana), Carl Joern (northwest Indiana/northeast Illinois), and Crystal Williams (northern Illinois), this show delivers timely, practical agronomic advice you can apply directly to your fields across the Eastern Corn Belt.