The use of transgenic Bt maize hybrids continues to increase significantly across the Corn Belt of the United States. In 2009, 59% of all maize planted in Illinois was characterized as a "stacked" gene variety. This is a 40% increase since 2006. Stacked hybrids typically express one Cry protein for corn rootworm control and one Cry protein for control of several lepidopteran pests; they also fe...

The composition of glyphosate-tolerant (Roundup Ready) corn event NK603 was compared with that of conventional corn grown in the United States in 1998 and in the European Union in 1999 to assess compositional equivalence. Grain and forage samples were collected from both replicated and nonreplicated field trials, and compositional analyses were performed to measure proximates, fiber, amino acid...

A total of 33 corn hybrids were evaluated in a series of greenhouse and field trials to determine if they differed in resistance to either Meloidogyne incognita race 3 or M. arenaria race 1. Reproduction of M. incognita race 3 and M. arenaria race 1 on the hybrids was also compared. Reproduction of M. arenaria differed among corn hybrids after 58 to 65 days in greenhouse experiments; however, r...

The first commercially successful F1 hybrid sweet corn, Golden Cross Bantam, was released by Smith in the early 1930s (17). Today, over 600 sweet corn hybrids are available commercially in the United States and thousands of new hybrids are developed and evaluated each year. These hybrids display a wide range of phenotypic reactions to prevalent diseases (9), indicating a considerable amount of ...

Sixteen multiparous Holstein cows averaging 74 d in milk were used in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square to compare the effects on animal performance of feeding whole plant silage and grain from a glyphosate-tolerant corn hybrid (event NK603), a nontransgenic control hybrid, and two commercial nontransgenic hybrids (DK647 and RX740). The grain and silage from the four corn hybrids were produced us...

Northern leaf blight (NLB), caused by Exserohilum turcicum (Pass.) K. J. Leonard & E. G. Suggs), is a prevalent disease of sweet corn (Zea mays L.) in the United States. Fungicides are used routinely to prevent severe epidemics of NLB on nearly 20,000 ha of supersweet (sh2) hybrids grown each spring in southern and central Florida. Epidemics of NLB on sweet corn grown in the midwestern United S...

Incidence of insect damage, and association of insect damage with mycotoxigenic corn ear molds and mycotoxins was examined in commercial fields of Bt and non-Bt hybrids of different backgrounds in Illinois in 1998 and 1999. Nearly 50% Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) infestation sometimes occurred in Bt hybrids that express high levels of the protein in silks and kernels. Damage by European corn borer,...