Legacy Seeds Research and Learning Center

We at Legacy seeds had the privilege to guide the Waupaca FFA Officers through a tour of the Legacy Seeds Research and Learning Center on Tuesday July 13, 2021. Mike Sankey, Legacy’s Agronomist lead the tour with help from his intern Mackenzie, and east central Wisconsin DSM Judd Hodgen. We were able to discuss the many facets of bringing new alfalfa varieties to the market. We went through alfalfa nurseries, disease trials, yield trials, and discussed seed production. We also were able to discuss the history of corn production. We looked at the history of corn starting with Teosinte which was domesticated more than 6,000 years ago and followed the progression to modern day inbred corn. Another interesting part of the tour was looking at corn and soybean production bar graph. This planted graph shows how many feet of 4 rows planted corn and soybeans it would take to make one bushel dating from the 1940s to present time. We ended our tour discussing our corn and soybean variety test plots and how we use them to bring new hybrids and varieties to the market and also as a selling tool. During this discussion we were able to cover the use of GMO’s as well as chemical use in agriculture production. It was a real pleasure to share our Research and Learning Center with the Waupaca FFA officers; we are excited to see their enthusiasm for Agriculture.