What Wehmeyer Seed does

Wehmeyer Seed Company is a third-party, independent seed production and conditioning facility founded in 1995 in Mascoutah, Illinois, by Dale and Lisa Wehmeyer. The company contracts soybean and wheat seed production to customer specifications, then delivers end-to-end processing services including field inspections, conditioning (sizing, color sorting, density separation), seed treating, packaging, warehousing, distribution, and full traceability data management. Its technology stack is built around modern industrial conditioning equipment — Satake Evolution Color Sorters, Oliver Gravity Separators, LMC Gravity Table, Opti-Count Scanner, Allen Bradley PLC controls, Gustafson/Bayer and USC seed treaters, and a robotic palletizer — housed in a solar-powered facility with 3.6 acres of warehouse storage and six loading docks. A new Foundation Seed plant unveiled in October 2021, with equipment upgrades and additional hopper bins in 2024, extends capabilities upstream into foundation seed services for breeding programs and genetic suppliers.

The company makes money through two reinforcing streams: B2B contract seed production services (professional services model, turn-key to à la carte) charged to regional seed companies, multi-national seed companies, food-grade companies, and export companies; and retail seed sales through owned brands distributed via channel partnerships. Retail brands include AgriMAXX Wheat (founded 2009, described as the largest independent family-owned wheat company in the United States), AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed (an Independent Seed Company within the nation's largest ISC network, distributing corn and soybean varieties in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas since 2007), and DONMARIO Seeds (production partnership added in 2024 for exclusive soybean genetics). Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured as tailor-fit production contracts per customer specification. The go-to-market is sales-led, with a General Sales Manager (John Howell) heading direct relationships; multi-generational family ownership remains intact with no external equity or venture capital backing disclosed.

Name

Wehmeyer Seed

Legal name

Wehmeyer Seed Company

Website

https://wehmeyerseed.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wehmeyer Seed Company is a third-party, independent seed production and conditioning facility in Mascoutah, Illinois, providing contract soybean and wheat seed services — conditioning, treating, packaging, and warehousing — to regional, multi-national, food-grade, and export seed customers, plus retail seed brands (AgriMAXX Wheat, AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed, DONMARIO Seeds) across the U.S. Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Seed Production Services

NAICS

Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Grain and Oilseed Milling (3112), Oilseed and Grain Farming (1111)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Seed Production & Multiplication (Contract Growing, Foundation/Certified Seed) (AFABAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Seed Conditioning & Processing (Cleaning, Grading, Treating) (AFAGAIAH), Registered Seed Production (AFAGAIAB), Seed Distribution & Wholesale (Channel Sales) (AFAGAIAM), Seed Storage & Cold Chain (Seed Warehousing) (AFAGAIAJ)

Keywords

• Seed conditioning services
• Soybean seed production
• Wheat seed production
• Foundation seed program
• Seed processing equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Mascoutah

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Seed Production Services: Contract seed production for soybeans and wheat according to customer company specifications. Services include field inspections, seed conditioning, seed treating, seed packaging, warehouse and storage, distribution, data management, and additional services like rebagging and retagging.
2. Foundation Seed Program: Foundation seed production services offered to breeding programs, genetic suppliers and seed companies. New program started October 2021, expanded in 2024.
3. Seed Sales - AgriMAXX Wheat: Founded in 2009, AgriMAXX Wheat is now the largest independent family-owned wheat company in the United States, offering high performance wheat seed varieties.
4. AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed: Operates as an Independent Seed Company (ISC) within the AgVenture network, offering corn and soybean varieties in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wehmeyer Seed Company provides contract seed production and conditioning services for soybeans and wheat, operating as a third-party independent producer within the global seed supply chain. Services span soybean and wheat production contracting, field inspections, seed conditioning (cleaning, color sorting, density separation, scanning), seed treating, packaging in multiple formats, warehouse storage and distribution, and end-to-end data management/traceability, with a separate Foundation Seed Program launched in 2021 for breeding programs and genetic suppliers.

Product overview

Wehmeyer Seed Company is a multi-generational family-owned seed conditioning facility founded in 1995, operating as an independent seed production company for soybean and wheat seed. The company offers a comprehensive suite of seed production services including soybean and wheat production contracting, field inspections, seed conditioning, seed treating, seed packaging, warehouse and storage (3.6 acres with 6 loading docks), distribution, data management, and additional services. The company also operates a Foundation Seed Program (launched October 2021, expanded in 2024) serving breeding programs and genetic suppliers. Through its retail brands, Wehmeyer offers AgriMAXX Wheat (high performance wheat, founded 2009, now the largest independent family-owned wheat company in the U.S.), AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed (corn and soybean varieties, founded 2007), and DONMARIO Seeds (soybean genetics, production partner since 2024).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AgriMAXX Wheat: High performance wheat seed brand founded in 2009. Now the largest, independent, family-owned wheat company in the United States.
• AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed

Products and services

• AgriMAXX Wheat High performance wheat seed brand founded in 2009; now the largest independent family-owned wheat company in the United States, offering wheat seed varieties across all maturities to commercial growers.
• AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed Independent Seed Company (ISC) operating in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas within the nation's largest ISC network, offering corn and soybean seed varieties with localized genetics and management solutions to increase farmer yield and profitability.
• DONMARIO Seeds Independent soybean brand providing U.S. growers with new and exclusive soybean genetics with higher yield potential; Wehmeyer is a production partner since 2024.
• Foundation Seed Program Foundation Seed services offered to breeding programs, genetic suppliers, and seed companies; utilizes the Foundation Seed Plant unveiled October 2021 with expanded equipment and hopper bins added in 2024.
• Soybean & Wheat Production Contracting Contract soybean and wheat production executed according to customer company specifications, predominantly raising soybeans in mid-group 3 to late-group 4 maturities and wheat in all maturities in Illinois.
• Field Inspections Professional plant stand, herbicide trait efficacy, bloom, pubescence, and pre-harvest field inspections conducted by trained inspectors during the growing season.
• Seed Conditioning Complete line of modern seed cleaning equipment creating perfect seed through sizing, color sorting (Satake Evolution Color Sorters), and density separation (Oliver Gravity Separators and LMC Gravity Table), with Opti-Count seed scanning.
• Seed Treating Tower and downstream seed treating with accurate rates and coverage applied for full protection using Gustafson/Bayer and USC treaters and any customer-specified product.
• Seed Packaging Packaging in true bulk, bulk bag, hard-sided box, sewn open mouth paper, or heat seal paper in accordance with customer brand standards; supported by Robotic Palletizer.
• Warehouse & Storage 3.6 acres of warehouse storage with 6 loading docks enabling simultaneous truck loading to move product in and out efficiently at the Mascoutah, Illinois facility.
• Distribution Distribution assistance for other seed and products needing short term warehousing and movement out of the Mascoutah facility.
• Data Management & Traceability Seed traceability beginning before fields are planted and maintained through final shipping requests, providing customers full visibility into production, quality, data, and specifications.
• Additional Services Supplementary services including rebagging, retagging, overtreating, and true bulk load outs to ensure customer needs are fully met.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30 years in business since 1995
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• DONMARIO SeedscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024In 2024, Wehmeyer Seed became a production partner for DONMARIO Seeds, an independent soybean brand dedicated to bringing U.S. growers new and exclusive genetics with higher yield potential. DONMARIO offers access to the most diverse soybean genetics worldwide.
• AgriMAXX WheatcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Founded by Wehmeyer Seed in 2009 to address lack of high performance wheat seed options. AgriMAXX Wheat has grown to become the largest independent family-owned wheat company in the United States, with focus on high performance wheat genetics.
• AgVenturecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2007AgVenture is the nation's largest network of Independent Seed Companies (ISCs). AgVenture Wehmeyer Seed was founded in 2007 and is one of the key ISCs operating in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas, focused on delivering localized seed genetics and management solutions to increase farmer yield and profitability.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Beck's Hybrids: Largest family-owned retail seed company in the U.S., based in Indiana, selling corn, soybean, wheat, and other seed. Comparable as a leading family-owned independent seed brand competing for similar Midwest growers and operating a vertically integrated seed business.
• Stine Seed: Family-owned, independent seed company headquartered in Iowa, focused on soybean, corn, and wheat genetics. Highly comparable as another large independent family-owned seed company operating in the same Midwest region with overlapping crop focus and similar family-control governance.
• Wyffels Hybrids: Family-owned independent corn seed company based in Illinois. Comparable as a family-owned independent seed company operating in the same Illinois/Western Midwest geography, with similar brand-and-distributor positioning.
• Albert Lea Seed: Independent family-owned seed company based in Minnesota offering corn, soybean, small grain, and cover crop seed. Comparable as an independent regional seed company operating in the broader Midwest with similar family-control profile.
• Merschman Seeds: Family-owned independent seed company in Iowa selling soybean, wheat, and corn seed. Comparable as another family-owned independent regional seed producer focused on similar Midwest row-crop acres.
• Latham Hi-Tech Seeds: Independent family-owned seed company headquartered in Iowa, marketing corn, soybean, and alfalfa seed across the Midwest. Comparable as a family-controlled independent regional seed brand targeting similar growers in IL, IA, MO, and surrounding states.
• Remington Seeds: Independent contract seed production company providing seed conditioning, treating, and packaging services to seed companies. Closest functional peer to Wehmeyer's contract production and seed conditioning service model.
• Cornelius Seed: Independent family-owned seed company in Iowa offering corn and soybean varieties. Comparable as a smaller-scale family-owned independent regional seed competitor in adjacent Midwest geographies.

Broad incumbents

• Corteva (Pioneer): Global seed and crop protection major whose Pioneer brand is a dominant U.S. seed company across corn, soybean, and wheat. Comparable as a major customer and competitor; sets the bar on genetics, scale, and integrated production that Wehmeyer either serves (as third-party producer) or competes against.
• Syngenta: Global seed and crop protection major with significant U.S. seed presence in corn, soybean, and wheat. Comparable as a multi-national customer of contract seed production services and as a broad incumbent that competes with independent seed producers for grower relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WehmeyerSeed
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wehmeyer-seed-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wehmeyer Seed