Miller Hybrids - Miller Research

Miller Hybrids is a research driven company with over fifty acres of research plots at five diverse locations across Eastern Iowa in 2008. Bob Miller Ph.D., owner and research director, developed many successful commercial hybrids as a plant breeder for two major seed corn companies before starting the Miller Hybrids Research program. His research has focused on drought tolerance, plant emergence, and improving the accuracy of research plots compared to farm fields.

Miller Hybrids Research evaluates hundreds of new products annually, most of which are made up in a winter nursery to allow testing the best new traits and hybrid combinations quickly. Research sites are specifically chosen to provide different stresses, including three corn-on-corn sites and two sites with CSR's in the seventies; many competitor research tests are conducted on ideal soils on soybean ground.

Another unique feature of Miller Hybrids Research involves evaluating our advanced hybrids in eight row plots that are 40 feet long, compared to standard competitors' research efforts that grow two-row plots that are 17 feet long. The use of eight row plots with the center four rows harvested for yield removes inter-plot competition effects and allows selection for hybrids which have more grain compared to the total plant weight. This will result in higher yields and less residue to manage. Miller has a new line development effort with access to an elite germplasm base and biotechnology tools. These efforts will identify a continuous stream of premium performance hybrids into the foreseeable future.