The Farm Progress Show is all about state-of-the-art tractors, combines and other equipment. But it’s also about the state-of-the-art seeds and plants that equipment of the future will plant and harvest using advanced precision technology.

To learn more about how plant breeders and plant scientists are stepping up their game to develop those plants and seeds for the future, Jennifer Carrico toured the Bayer display during the Farm Progress Show. Carrico is editor of Wallaces Farmer, Farm Progress’ state magazine in Iowa.

What did she learn from Bayer scientists who staffed the display and demonstrated how high-tech seed research tools work today? Here is a closer look:

Seed chipping. Carrico’s first stop was at the seed chipper. “They showed me how they could take a tiny piece out of the dent end of the kernel using a sophisticated machine,” she says. “The goal is to get a piece of the kernel’s DNA so they can study the genome.”

During show days, visitors could take the remainder of the corn kernel home in a tiny plastic bag as a souvenir. When kernels that are part of a breeding program are chipped, each kernel is carefully identified and stored after chipping. Plant breeders and plant scientists can retrieve seeds that have characteristics they want and grow them in plots. Chipping doesn’t destroy the kernel’s ability to germinate.

Robotic plating and handling. Robotic machines handle the chipped section of corn kernels. The tiny nuggets are treated like the gold mines of information they are, and identification integrity is maintained during the entire process.

Sequencing and profiling. The payoff comes when high-tech scientific equipment analyzes DNA inside the piece of chipped kernel, Carrico explains. Bayer spokespersons noted that one tiny chip of one seed can yield 500 data points about various genetic traits. Billions of data points are collected on kernels scientists are evaluating.

“The time-savings happens because they can determine which seeds have traits they want to advance without growing them out,” Carrico says. “They know what to expect from seeds they select before they plant them.”

Filling seed cassettes and planting. Seed doesn’t just go into tiny brown envelopes in this operation. Instead, Bayer personnel use an automated machine called the Flex Filler to fill seed cassettes with seeds that plant breeders and plant scientists selected to advance in nurseries. Carrico learned that each cell in each cassette contains seeds that will funnel into the automated planter.

“The lower part of the planter looks normal,” Carrico says. “The upper part is configured to accept the seed cassette prepared by the Flex Filler. The scientist or plant breeder can take a map of the plot once seedlings emerge and know exactly which plants came from which seeds. It truly is space-age technology.”

To see photos of this cutting-edge equipment, click through the slideshow.