Background and Importance of Troyer Reid Corn

Abstract

Corn (Zea mays L.) history and American westward expansion were intertwined when several hundred newer, better adapted, open‐pollinated corn varieties were developed by human and natural selection. Chester E. Troyer was a pioneer corn breeder who bred ‘Troyer Reid’, an improved ‘Reid Yellow Dent’ variety. We relate how Chester got to the particular Indiana farm whose pervious, river‐bottom soil affected natural selection. Better, deeper rooting probably helped Troyer Reid obtain more nutrients and water. Chester's formative years were spent as a teacher, and his later achievements included being honored four times as Corn King of the World and also as a successful corn breeder of productive corn varieties and proprietary hybrids. He was first to produce and sell hybrid seed corn in Indiana in 1925, received the Purdue University Certificate of Distinction and was a successful seed corn businessman and employer, successful gladiolus (Gladiolus × gandavensis Van Houtte) breeder of award winning varieties, successful banker, and beloved civic philanthropist. Troyer Reid accounts for about 15% of the background of documented U.S. Corn Belt hybrid corn through inbreds developed by Purdue University, Pioneer Hi‐Bred International, University of Minnesota, and Iowa State University corn breeders.