Open-Pollinated Corn
Our main crop here at Lighthouse Farm is, quite simply, grass. With nearly 100 acres of pasture, we certainly have lots of it. However, we do raise a few acres of corn every year for chicken and pig feed.

Corn is a fascinating crop to raise. It is most likely the most improved upon crop in all of creation. Man has been improving corn for hundreds of years. Since the 1920’s this improvement has been almost exclusively in the form of hybridization. In short, hybrid corn is a very powerful tool for selecting key traits to highlight in the corn germ-plasm.

For example, corn breeders over the past 60-80 years or so have done a fantastic job of creating a very uniform crop which responds well to high levels of nitrogen fertilizer, chemical weed control, mechanical harvesting and drying, and is designed to be transported thousands of miles, transferred from combine to grain dryer to grain bin, to semi-truck to rail car to barge to ship to processing plant. In fact, that is how most of the corn in the US is treated.

What corn breeders have not been selecting for, however, is taste, protein content, kernel softness, palatability, and nutritional content. The result is that most corn you see growing by the road is not all that good for the animals or people who eventually eat it. To top it all off, hybridization makes it nearly impossible for farmers to save seed from one corn crop to plan the next.

Before hybrid corn became popular, farmers used open pollinated (OP) corn. OP corn is much more diverse and variable than hybrid corn. Plants in a field of OP corn tend to be variable in height, leaf shape and even kernel color! It is this variability which I think makes OP corn actually better than hybrid corn. While it is true that OP corn generally (not always) yields less than hybrid corn. It is my belief that it is more palatable, and provides a wider array of nutrients to the animals, contributing to a more well-rounded diet, and ultimately, improved health. As an added benefit, OP corn seed can effectively be saved from year to year, saving farmers money in seed costs.
At Lighthouse Farm we raise only OP corn. In 2006, we raised a variety called Wapsee Valley. In the photos, you can see some of the variety in kernel color and ear size. Also, you can see lots of weeds in the field behind me! Weeds are a real yield reducer, but not a problem for an integrated, sustainable, authentic farm like ours. We don’t have as much invested in our crop as most farmers do. Since we rotate a portion of our grass pasture to corn each year, we are turning under very fertile, manure-laden land for planting to corn. Therefore, we do not add any purchased fertilizer. Also, we don’t spray chemicals on the land for weeds. We do cultivate the weeds between the rows, but once the corn is 3-4 feet tall, that too stops.

The result is a VERY high quality feed for our pigs and chickens. When given a choice, our animals always choose the OP corn over anything else! We are currently in the process of selecting for a higher protein content in our OP corn. Over time, with several years of selection, we can develop our own “Lighthouse OP Corn,” which will be uniquely fitted to our soils and growing conditions. We feel this can only enhance the quality and locality of our pork and chicken. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project!