Borries Open Pollinated Seed Corn
Open Pollinated Corn
Most corn was open pollinated (OP) when Joe Borries went into the Army in World War II. By 1946, when he returned to our farm near Teutopolis, Illinois, hybrids had taken over. He planted hybrids from the mid 40’s until the mid 60’s, although he yearned for the days of OP corn– livestock just didn’t do as well on hybrids. In the mid 60’s, he finally found some OP seed corn. A few diehards scattered all over the country had kept it going.
After several years of comparing OP corn to hybrids, he switched back. But most other farmers stuck with the hybrids. Their blind confidence in hybrid corn was shaken in the blight of 1969-1970 when 15% of the nation’s corn crop was devastated. The blight had no effect on OP corn, and that’s how the Borries family seed corn business took off.
The biggest advantage of OP corn shows up when it’s fed to livestock. We used to raise Holstein steers. Feeding them OP corn allowed us to cut down on purchased inputs, since OP corn is higher than hybrids in protein and essential minerals. We know this through feed tests and also by way of customers who tell us about their experiences feeding OP corn to livestock.
Because hybrid corn is grown largely for grain, through the years the stalk height has been bread shorter and shorter. A lot of our sales come from customers wanting silage corn. It is also becoming popular for some farmers to use it for grazing. OP corn grows much taller than hybrids and has more leafy vegetation, which means more silage per acre. If planting for grain, we recommend 22,000-24,000 plant population. For silage, we recommend 25,000-30,000 maximum plant population.
Since OP corn breeds true, seed can be saved from year to year with virtually no change in characteristics. Compared to hybrids, which tassel and pollinate in a few days and produce virtual clones, OP corn takes one to two weeks to pollinate, and both plant height and ear length are a little uneven. If you save your own seed, make sure it does not cross pollinate with other corn. As a general rule, corn selected for seed should have a buffer zone of at least 40 rows.
We pick the corn in the ear, then hand sort and shell one ear at a time in a sheller with an electric motor. Then we process the corn through a grader, which separates the seeds by size and shape. Each year we plant around 50 acres of OP corn. We use as much as we can for seed, and sell the rest to livestock farmers.
| Corn Type | Protein | Lysine | Maturity |
| Henry Moore (yellow) | 11.3 | 0.38 | 110 |
| Krugs (yellow) | 10.0 | 0.30 | 90 |
| Reids (yellow) | 9.9 | 0.31 | 110 |
| Boone Co. White | 7.8 | —- | 120 |
Corn Shapes and Sizes
- Med. Flats
- Med Rounds
- Large Flats
- Small Flats
- Please note: Small Flats available only in Krugs and Reids, and will have a few cracked kernels.
Pricing
- $67/ bushel plus shipping
- $40/ half bushel plus shipping
- $30/ quarter bushel plus shipping.
Our corn is hand sorted and state tested. Boone Co. White and Henry Moore does have wider kernels than the others. We start shipping corn sometime after Feb.1 each year. Corn can also be picked up anytime including weekends. We ask that you call before coming to ensure that we are available.
You can save your own seed from year to year if it does not cross-pollinate. Corn selected for seed should be at least 40 rows away from other corn.
Supplement rations for livestock may be reduced due to greater nutritional value of Open-Pollinated (OP) corn, including protein, lysine, and trace minerals. When we had livestock, our feed company sent different instructions when feeding with OP corn.
All of our varieties will make a lot more silage than hybrids because it has more foliage. Boone Co. White has grown as tall as 16 feet. The other three will average 12 feet in good years. We recommend using less nitrogen on OP corn. We apply approximately 110 pounds of actual N per acre, depending on the previous year’s crop. We aim for a plant population of 22 thousand per acre for grain. We suggest you plant OP corn a little thinner than hybrids. In good years, a lot of the stalks will make 2 ears. OP corn has the potential to make large ears if it gets adequate rainfall.
We do not think any OP corn will stand as well as most hybrids, however, some customers said it stood better than some of their hybrids. All OP corn will dry down fast.
If you use your corn for feeding livestock, we think OP corn is worth a try. When ordering, please include phone number.
Pickup & Shipping Options
- If you live in any of these states, we use Spee-de Delivery.
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- The Eastern part of Nebraska
- Packaging: Smaller orders, 5 bushel or less will be shipped by individually by boxes. Usually 6 bushel or more will be wrapped on a pallet and shipped.
- All other states may either be Fed Ex ground or a Fed Ex truck.
- Packaging- Large orders will be wrapped on a pallet and trucked.
Seed corn pickups are welcome, even on weekends, but please give us notice that you are on your way.
We’re dedicated to giving you the very best in OP seed corn. Please reach out if you have any questions!
Leonard and Gerald Borries
16293 E. 1400th Ave. Teutopolis, IL 62467
217-857-3377
Feel free to email us at borriesopseedcorn@gmail.com.
