You have a lot of choices when it comes to the seed that gets planted on your farm, but keeping track of brands — especially corn and soybeans — can be daunting.

Between changing ownership, brand consolidation and name changes, your head will likely spin as soon as you Google “seed companies” in the search bar. Nevertheless, check out this graphic below to see current seed brands that circulate around the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Ohio and Michigan, and the companies that own them.

Knowing who owns what can provide crucial insights into what companies are behind the brands you buy, how they source and develop genetics, and what sorts of technology may be available to you.

Check out university variety trials

The University of Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State each perform their own corn and soybean variety trials.

Results for 2024 will be released later this year, but you can peruse 2023 trial results by clicking on the links below:

Penn State. The corn trial evaluated early-season hybrids in Clinton, Centre and Tioga counties; midseason hybrids — 100-105 days RM — in Clinton and Centre counties; and late-season hybrids — 105-118 days RM — in York, Lancaster and Chester counties.

The soybean trials were conducted in Centre County — full season — and Lancaster and York counties — full season and double-crop beans. All trials were laid out in small plots in a randomized complete block design with four replications.

Ohio State. In 2023, companies were permitted to enter an unlimited number of corn hybrids. Ten sites were available for hybrid evaluation, covering three regions of the state.

Hybrids were planted either in an early- or full-season maturity trial based on relative maturity information provided by the companies. Hybrids were planted with an Almaco Seed Pro 360 plot planter with SkyTrip GPS. Each plot consisted of four 30-inch rows about 25 feet long.

The soybean trials were planted at various locations in the north (1.9 to 3.8 RM), central (2.5 to 4.3 RM) and south regions (2.9 to 4.3 RM) of the state.

The entries for each test site were planted in a randomized complete block design. Each entry was replicated four times and planted in plots 28 feet long and 5 feet wide, containing four rows seeded at 15-inch row width. Seeding rate was 150,000 seeds per acre.

Michigan State. Soybean trials were reported for central and southern zones of Michigan. The central locations included test sites in Allegan, Ingham, Saginaw and Sanilac counties. The southern locations included test sites in Hillsdale, Ingham, Lenawee and St. Joseph (irrigated) counties.

Nineteen seed companies entered 161 commercial varieties, not including experimental MSU lines. 

University of Maryland. The 2023 corn hybrid test evaluated 57 hybrids in five locations throughout the state.

Each hybrid was replicated three times per location. Planting was done using a modified, four-row John Deere 1750 planter equipped with coulters and trash wheels for no-till planting.

The soybean test evaluated 85 varieties across four locations.