The identification of seed vigor is of great significance to improve the seed germination rate, increase crop yield, and ensure product quality. In this study, based on a hyperspectral data acquisition system and an improved feature extraction algorithm, an identification model of the germination characteristics for corn seeds was constructed. In this research, hyperspectral data acquisition and the standard corn seed germination test for Zhengdan 958 were carried out. By integrating the hyperspectral data in the spectral range of 386.7–1016.7 nm and the first derivative information of the spectral data, the root length prediction for corn seeds was successfully completed. The data regression model and prediction relationship between the spectral characteristics and seedling root length were established by principal component regression, partial least squares, and support vector regression. The first derivative information of the hyperspectral data was obtained by comparing the prediction model results with the original spectral data, which was preprocessed by Savitzky–Golay smoothing, multiplicative scatter correction, standard normal variate, and curve fitting. The results showed that the prediction model based on the first-order differential spectral data showed better performance than the one based on the spectral data obtained by other processing algorithms. By comparing the prediction results using different data characteristics and regression models, it was found that the hyperspectral method can effectively predict the root length of the seed, with the coefficient of determination reaching 0.8319.