ROCKVILLE, Ind. – A west-central Indiana company has come up with a way to supply farmers with their own corn genetics adapted for their particular farming conditions, according to Steve Gerrish, managing partner of Maize Makers.

The genetics can be adapted for farmers using regenerative, sustainable and organic growing conditions, he told Farm World.

Farmers will own the rights to their corn genetics and seed grown on their property, eliminating the need to buy seed from a dealer, Gerrish noted.

He said he created the mass customization platform because “the consolidation of the seed and farming infrastructure is for the commodity grain market. Other markets like human and animal food and beverage consumption are requiring pesticide free and soil health farming methods. These require unique and personalized genetics. Nutritional and flavor compounds are drivers in these markets as well with regional differences.”

The platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to match corn genetics to individual farm environments, empowering growers to reclaim ownership of seed selection and production, a company press release said. The platform focuses exclusively on corn varieties that are off patent or were never patented, the release said.

In addition to regenerative and sustainable growing conditions, other target markets include traditional and low-input farming environments and specialty food-grade corn markets.

The corn varieties in the Maize Makers program will have multiple disease and drought-tolerant genes, Gerrish said.

“Seed dealers usually are selling products their company has developed and produced,” he pointed out. “They try to select genetics for the farms they sell to. The Maize Makers process basically has the farm growing conditions driving the genetic selection of the germplasm (the genetics within the corn seed) for each individual farm.”

Each participating farm will undergo a comprehensive biome analysis using MaizeMakers.com and QMIRA.com, the release said. The system evaluates such things as soil biology and structure, disease prevalence and pathogen pressure, climate and micro-environmental factors, and management practices.

QMIRA’s goal is to provide low-cost diagnostic solutions to infectious and parasitic disease through AI, according to the company’s website.

Using this data, AI selects optimal hybrid combinations or open-pollinated varieties specifically adapted to that farm’s ecological conditions, the release said. This precision deployment enhances resilience, yield stability, nutrient density and system sustainability, the release said.

“If (a farmer) is planting into regenerative, sustainable, organic or cover crop programs and wants to control costs, this program should be considered,” Gerrish said.

As for the cost of the platform, he said there is an upfront consulting and seed cost with farmers taking over their own production. Their own production could be as low as $15 per bushel, Gerrish said. The range for costs per acre in 2025-26 for seed bought from a dealer is $115-$175, with an average around $126, he added.

For more information, visit MaizeMakers.com and QMIRA.com.