going from farm to farm. What 1936
revealed was that hybrid corn had a
tolerance to drought that was previously unrecognized. Increased hybrid
sales in 1937 and 1938 helped finance
even more research, which lead to
significant breakthroughs in corn and
soybean genetics in recent years.
The United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has kept crop production records since 1866. During the
first 70 years, average corn production
was fairly constant at about 26 bushels
to the acre. The adoption of hybrid
corn after the Dust Bowl years resulted
in a dramatic improvement in corn
production. The USDA reports that the
annual rate of yield improved about 0.8
bushels per acre per year from 1937
through 1955. Since 1955 corn yields
across the country have increased
fairly consistently by 1.9 bushels per
acre per year, due to improved genetics,
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