Three major seed producers are working on drought-resistant crops. The conditions this summer are providing a stern test.
Illinois farmer Mike Cyrulik didn't foresee this year's drought when, this spring, he planted 20 bags of a new corn seed on a slice of his 5,000-acre farm. Today, weeks before the harvest, much of his and his neighbors' crop is dead or dying. But not the portion of his land where he planted the new seed. The healthy looking plants have "wound up being the talk of the town," says Cyrulik, who expects a significantly higher yield, by 30 to 50 bushels, from each of those 220 acres in Bloomington.
