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Producing seed corn isn’t for every farmer, according to Matt Schafer, and it has its challenges. But it’s become important to Schafer Farms, a grain and beef farm in LaPorte County operated by Matt, his father, uncle and brother-in-law.

The Schafers raise corn, soybeans and occasionally cucumbers, and they also raise beef cattle, selling the beef direct to consumers.

“Seed corn production fits into our operation and our area in general,” Matt said. Growers in the county produce seed for three different seed companies, who find the area attractive due to its sandy soils and high percentage of irrigated acres.

”LaPorte is now the most irrigated county in Indiana,” he said, adding that about 70% of Schafer Farms’ acres are irrigated.

It was irrigation that allowed Schafer Farms to get into the seed corn business in the first place. In 2001, the Schafers bought a farm with a center-pivot irrigation system, and that’s when they branched out into seed corn.

In addition to being a higher value crop that produces higher revenues, one of the great things about seed corn, Matt said, is that the Schafers aren’t responsible for harvesting it. The company that they produce seed for does the actual harvesting and also takes care of trucking and storage.

“That takes pressure off us at harvest,” he explained. In addition, since seed corn is harvested a little earlier than regular field corn, the Schafers have a better chance of getting a cover crop established or completing fall tillage.

The downside is that seed corn growers lose the flexibility that many producers take for granted.

“We like our relationship with the company we grow for and the people we get to work with, but the fact is, you’re growing for somebody else now,” he said, and that means that planting and other crop management has to be done according to very specific instructions from the seed company.

“Your time is not 100% your own, and you know that going in,” he said.

Weed control isn’t a big issue, he added, but when weeds are a problem, oftentimes the seed corn has to be treated like a non-GMO crop. “For the most part, we don’t have glyphosate in our toolbox, we don’t have Liberty in our toolbox, which requires a little more management on our part,” he said.

“You can’t totally plan from one year to the next how many acres you’re going to get,” he added. “Things can be kind of fluid.”

Learn More
Matt Schafer is among the members featured in the videos shown in the Farm Bureau Building during the 2018 Indiana State Fair. Watch him as he explains seed corn production.