Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest? That means corn, corn, corn! 

And we’re talking tall corn. Twelve-foot-tall, green, leafy walls rise on either side of many roads. They seem to block the view of nearly everything except the Sun and an occasional water tower.

Tall corn is part of rural America, like red barns and calm cows. But that may change soon. People are thinking about replacing tall corn varieties with short ones.

“As you drive across the Midwest, maybe in the next seven, eight, 10 years, you’re going to see a lot of this out there,” says farmer Cameron Sorgenfrey. He has been growing newly developed short corn for several years. Sometimes neighboring farmers give his “short corn” puzzled looks. 

Bayer Crop Science developed the short corn. People are testing the corn on about 30,000 acres in the Midwest. 

Why? People think short corn can survive powerful windstorms. It’s smaller and sturdier. It can withstand winds up to 50 miles per hour. (How do we know that? Researchers hover over fields with a helicopter to see how the plants handle wind.)

Smaller plants also mean farmers can plant more corn closer together. More corn on less land means more profit. Farmers have faced several years of low corn prices lately. Smaller stalks might also use less water. That’s especially helpful in times of drought. 

U.S. farmers grow corn on about 90 million acres each year. It’s usually the nation’s largest crop. So short corn could make a big, big difference.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. — John 12:24