Dassel Seed Corn

Dassel Seed Corn Story: Planting the Seed

(A preview of the permanent exhibit to be installed next year)

The hybridization of seed corn was named by Time magazine as one of the one hundred “most significant events that have shaped our world during the past 1,000 years.” Dassel is part of that story.

 It is remarkable that such a northern location as Meeker County, Minnesota, could become “The Seed CornCapital of the Northwest.” Farmers, beginning in the late years of the 19th century, began developing varieties of seed corn that were able to thrive here. When the open pollination method of improving seed corn had been taken as far as it could, hybridization became the answer. Beginning in the 1930s Dassel companies established research programs and developed inbred strains for use in producing hybrid seed. Dassel seed corn has been and continues to be distributed widely.