Trying to fill what they thought was a void in the seed industry almost twenty years ago, M & W Seeds started small in southeast Michigan and now serves customers in their home state plus Indiana, Ohio, New York, Maine, Vermont and Pennsylvania. There are even shipments this year going to the Dakota’s and Idaho.
Craig McManus is one of the two Michigan producers who founded the company in 2007.
“We got involved in seed production in 2003 and elevated the level to raise our own retail brand and really just wanted to provide producers with an option for very high quality seed corn and soybeans at a fair price. We kind of thought we lacked that out in the corn market with all the corporate shenanigans that go on throughout the seed industry. We just wanted to be up front and transparent with our customer base and that base has really bloomed and blossomed into a company that’s been fairly successful on our front.”
McManus says one of the secrets to their success has been the careful selection process for corn hybrids and soybean varieties.
“We are typically looking for the products that are better pass to pass across the farm,” he explained. “We want the products that are the steady Eddies, you know. All of us producers, we’re not only seed corn producers, but we also farm on a commercial standpoint, so we’re looking to evaluate hybrids that we would want to plant, the ones that make us money on every variable soil that goes across the farm. You have that in one pass.”
Two years ago, the company launched a subsidiary operation called M & W Aerial offering their customers drone applications to help mitigate risk in the fields. There was a good reason to get into drones.
“We want our company as a whole to be a solutions company, not just a seed company, but be able to help customers and growers have a successful crop from start to finish. So we added the aerial application aspect of our business. We also have a sales department for drones and a service department for drones as well, for customers interested in purchasing their own drones for their own applications.”
Complete information on the company is at their website, https://mwseeds.com/.
Hear the full interview with Craig McManus:
