Each summer, thousands of motorists traveling along Interstate 80 are treated to a visual feast of Nebraska’s contribution to the world’s leading grain crop — mile after mile of vast, uniform cornfields stretching across the landscape.
Along some stretches of the interstate, drivers may spot fields with an unusual planting pattern — four rows at one height followed by a shorter row, a sequence repeated across the field. Along those stretches, motorists pass fields that rank among the highest-value corn in the state. In these fields, farmers grow the parent plants that produce hybrid seeds. Next season, those hybrid seeds will be planted by farmers throughout the Corn Belt and worldwide.
Seeds are the key to plant production systems, which drive the work done by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. A new course, Plant and Landscape Systems 391A: Special Topics in Agronomy – Seed Industry Enterprises, focuses on seed production and the professionals who work together in the seed industry. The course was developed to prepare students to explore and pursue careers in this field.
The course was created and is taught by Kelsey McCullough, a Nebraska alumna and lecturer in the department. McCullough combined her experience in online teaching and her work with her family’s seed production business to create a class that engages students in thinking and working like seed industry professionals. Through online coursework, students learn from her and other experts, network and shadow professionals of their choosing, and gain both on- and off-campus experience through field and lab activities designed by McCullough.
McCullough also had help from Don Lee, emeritus professor of agronomy and horticulture, with course design and scheduling the in-person field trips during the fall semester.
“Don took the lead in teaching for a few weeks after I had a baby boy in mid-September,” she said. “He’s been a great asset, and it’s been great to work with him. The students benefited from his contributions.”
Students tour the Bayer Hybrid Seed Plant near Waco, Nebraska, Sept. 26 and include Nolan Eikerman (from left), Evan Smith, Carsen Nagel, Brady Miller, Professor Don Lee, Xavier Ettwein, Payton Gangwish and Carson Ott. Dried ears are sent up this conveyor to the tower. As the seed moves down the tower, the remaining steps of processing are performed.
On Sept. 26, seven members of the Seed Industry Enterprises course visited the Bayer Hybrid Seed Plant near Waco, Nebraska. Hybrid seed harvest was at the halfway point for the nearly 200 fields producing Bayer hybrid corn seed in the Waco area. Members of the Bayer seed production team including Jake Brouillette, Garrett DeGross and John Havlat led a tour for the class, guiding students through the seed conditioning, treatment and packaging processes underway at the plant.
“The Seed Industry Enterprises class gained an appreciation for the engineering and attention to detail we saw from the tour,” Lee said. “The year-round work of our Bayer hosts Garrett, Jake and John to organize and partner with farmers to produce the hybrid seed, combined with the investment in this facility, creates a high-value enterprise that requires the collaboration of both big and small companies.”
The visit gave students a firsthand look at the complexity and precision of hybrid seed production, reinforcing lessons from class. By combining hands-on experience with industry connections, the Seed Industry Enterprises course helps prepare Nebraska students for careers in a critical and globally influential sector of agriculture — ensuring that the state’s cornfields continue to thrive.
See more photos at Students Explore Nebraska’s Seed Industry Through New Course at IANR told with Exposure.
