This fall, Great Lakes Hybrids (GLH) celebrates its 95th year in business and is one of the longest running seed companies still around today.

“We take our commitment of providing top quality genetics to growers very seriously,” says Product Manager, Tim Jordal. “We want to help them and their families succeed, and the best way we can do that, is by producing high-yielding products. As a division of AgReliant Genetics, LLC, GLH continues to stay on the forefront of innovation through access to a research program among the top five in North America. 

Great Lakes Hybrids is headquartered in Ovid.

GLH has regional sales agronomists in every state of its footprint. “Ultimately, GLH dealers have been the key to the brand’s longevity because of their knowledge of local geography and growers’ personal needs” says Brand Manager, Doug Little.

In addition to corn, soybean and alfalfa seed, Great Lakes provides customized tools to help growers with seed decisions and farm management, such as Advantage Acre- AgReliant’s new precision agriculture platform. 

A new website is also being launched that will include a build your own seed guide feature and local plot book generator.

The Great Lakes Hybrids can trace its roots back to when fields were planted by a horse-drawn, two-row corn planter. In 1921, Fritz Mantey harvested 140 bushels of open-pollinated seed corn from seven acres in Fairgrove - calling his business Michigan Certified Seeds. Mantey took a grassroots approach to distribution, selling seed primarily through a dealer network. In 1965, the Mantey family brought in Moore Seed Farm and six other seed producers to form Great Lakes Hybrids, Inc. 

Family farms like the Clemmons family are the heart of Great Lakes Hybrids.

Through the 1980’s, Great Lakes expanded out of Michigan and into the Midwest. This growth lured KWS SAAT AG to take 80% ownership of Great Lakes in 1988. Growth continued, and in 2000, KWS merged U.S. operations with Limagrain to form AgReliant Genetics, LLC, the third largest seed company in the U.S. today.

Source: GLH