Seed Developer Cultivates Hardy Corn to Help Feed the World

Dave Christensen, a corn seed developer and regular church attendee in Big Timber, Montana, has devoted his life to developing hardy, nutritious corn varieties suited for challenging global growing conditions.

“Fifty-five years ago, I started growing colorful Indian corn to feed my family because no other corn would mature at our high elevation in Montana," Christensen shared with the Gleaner. “By 2000, I saw it helping so many people that I quit my job as a buckskin tanner to grow corn full time.”

Christensen was recently interviewed by Acres U.S.A.,¹ an agriculture publication, where he discussed how his decades of seed development grew out of agricultural necessity, his agricultural training and his desire to help people grow food in places where farming is difficult.

“I started talking with the real old guys — I was in my 20s and they were in their 90s — about how they grew up on homesteader farms, and their only grain was Indian corn,” Christensen said in the interview.

This research led him to older regional varieties called squaw corn, grown by early homesteaders who had obtained seed from the Mandan Tribe in North Dakota. This corn, he discovered, matched a dream he had at age 17 about black ears of corn.

Since 1970, Christensen has been continuously refining genetically diverse corn varieties from dozens of stress-hardy heirloom corn varieties that are grown in dry parts of the western U.S., especially New Mexico and Arizona, and Canada. He put about 70 different lines into his founding population, which became Painted Mountain Corn, to yield a drought-resistant, early-maturing, high-producing and nutritious corn.

This cross-breeding project using natural breeding methods became his SeedWeNeed® project. He felt like God was leading him through the prayers he prayed, the challenges he faced and the direction the work continued to take. Now 81, he is partnering with North Frontier Farms and still works 12-hour days during harvest.

"All along the way were amazing discoveries with rare genes falling into my hands," he said. "I am partnering with my Father God. It is His project, and I am doing the work. God is an amazing partner!"

To date, he has produced five main lines of corn selected for their ability to adapt and grow in dry conditions, short seasons and poor soils. The Painted Mountain Corn serves as his basic gene pool. It's generally short — about 4–6 feet tall — and typically produces 7–10-inch cobs in a short growing season.

The corn is not designed for large-scale industrial machine harvesting, which suits global farming needs, as many farmers do not have tractors for harvesting and prefer efficient plants that have a higher cob-to-plant ratio. This means anyone can grow corn in small plots or gardens.

Another characteristic of these older corn varieties is their higher protein content compared to typical modern dent corn. The kernels also contain natural pigments called anthocyanins, which have been studied for their potential nutritional benefits.

With years of research, careful breeding and God's guidance behind him, Christensen noticed that his agricultural work was becoming a form of ministry. He started sharing and selling seed to farmers, gardeners and mission projects who were working in challenging growing conditions, hoping the hardy varieties could help provide more reliable food sources.

Christensen was further motivated when he found out that people around the globe on the edge of starvation cannot afford animal protein or even legumes. Many rely on low-protein starches such as the “relief” corn that the U.S. sends all over the world.

“I’m trying to create a food to feed starving people around the world,” he said. “My corn has been tried by people all over the world, and this really amazes me. I’ve gotten letters from [many countries and] every continent, including Norway, Germany, Romania, Australia, Greenland, Guatemala, North Korea, Central American countries and African countries." He has traveled for consultations to North Korea and Guatemala.

Christensen views these efforts as part of a practical ministry. By developing seeds that can be replanted and grown with limited resources, he hopes to support small farmers, families and mission projects working in places where dependable food production is not always certain given the economy or the environment.

His goal, he said, is to develop crops that can help feed people in difficult conditions, one family or farmer at a time by giving them higher-protein and higher-nutrient food.

Christensen’s five corn lines are summarized in the following table: