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The Golden Harvest Story

With roots dating back to the mid-1800s, the Golden Harvest® brand has built a legacy of combining genetics, agronomy and service to deliver high-quality corn hybrids and soybean varieties.

Golden Harvest traces its foundation to pioneering family companies — Akin Seed, Columbiana Seed, Garst and Thomas Hi-Bred Corn Company, Garwood Seed, Golden Seed, J.C. Robinson Seeds, Sommer Brothers Seed and Thorp Seed — who led industry-changing innovations, from early hybrid seed corn development to the first trait stack with Bt control and herbicide tolerance.

Today, every Golden Harvest corn hybrid and soybean variety is bred for the needs of hardworking farmers. With broad genetic diversity and leading traits and technologies, our hybrids and varieties maximize yield potential, help resist pests and diseases and perform in even the toughest conditions.

But genetics are just part of the formula. Golden Harvest has always been rooted in agronomy and service. Our Seed Advisors are in the field with you, leveraging deep agronomic expertise, local trial data and product placement tools to recommend the right hybrids and varieties for your operation.

Your success is our success. With deep roots in genetics, agronomy and service, Golden Harvest delivers high-yielding seed that works just as hard as you do.

Our Heritage

1853The Golden family, innovators since 1853 and founders of Golden Seed Co. Inc., was the first to package seed in paper bags.
1888J.C. Robinson Seed Co. in Waterloo, NE, was established in 1888, and offered 108 varieties of open pollinated seed corn by 1924.
1909O.J. and Arthur Sommer founded Sommer Brothers Seed Co. in Pekin, IL, with their 10 best ears of corn in 1909.
1917Thorp Seed Co. operated one of the first tractors in Illinois in 1917 and applied the first nitrogen sidedress to corn in 1938.
1924Founded in 1924 in Stonington, IL, Garwood Seed Company pioneered the use of a combine for soybeans and was instrumental in improving the pest resistance of early open pollinated corn varieties.
1930In the 1930s, J.C. Robinson Seed Co. introduced hybrid corn in their growing region under the name Rob-See-Co.
1931Garst and Thomas Hi-Bred Corn Company was founded in 1931 as a family business. The company led the way in developing herbicide-tolerant hybrids, including the first IMI-corn, and was among the first seed companies to offer European corn borer (Bt) control and herbicide tolerance together in one corn hybrid.
1932Columbiana Seed Co. was started in 1932 with 40 acres of seed production in Columbiana, IL.
1936Clarence Akin planted his first acre of seed corn in 1936, officially starting Akin Seed Company.
1973Akin Seed, Columbiana Seed, Garwood Seed, Golden Seed, J.C. Robinson Seeds, Sommer Bros. Seed, and Thorp Seed formed a business alliance to create Golden Harvest Seeds, Inc. on April 23, 1973. The partnership allowed the companies to share research and marketing resources nationally and internationally — yet market and sell locally.
2004Syngenta acquired a major stake in Golden Harvest in 2004, allowing it to operate as an independent brand while providing access to one of the largest research programs in the industry.
2004Syngenta purchased Garst’s corn and soybean seed brand from AstraZeneca in 2004.
2004The Agrisure traits portfolio launches in 2004 and experiences a period of rapid growth over the next 10 years with multiple technologies launched commercially, including Agrisure Artesian® water optimization technology, Agrisure Viptera® for control of lepidopteran insects and Agrisure Duracade® for rootworm control.
2013Golden Harvest and Garst corn seed brands were unified under the Golden Harvest brand in 2013.
2017Golden Harvest expanded its offering with the introduction of Golden Harvest soybeans for 2017 planting.

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© Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label and bag tag instructions; only those labeled as tolerant to glufosinate may be sprayed with glufosinate ammonium-based herbicides. LibertyLink®, Liberty® and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of BASF. HERCULEX® and the HERCULEX Shield are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience LLC. HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Corteva Agriscience LLC.

No dicamba may be used in-crop with seed with Roundup Ready® Xtend Technology, unless and until approved or specifically permitted, and no dicamba formulations are currently registered for such use at the time this material was published. Please see https://www.roundupreadyxtend.com/pages/xtendimax-updates.aspx for status updates. See product labels for details and tank mix partners. Golden Harvest® soybean varieties are protected under granted or pending U.S. variety patents and other intellectual property rights, regardless of the trait(s) within the seed. The Enlist E3® soybean, LibertyLink®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield® and XtendFlex® soybean traits may be protected under numerous United States patents. It is unlawful to save soybeans containing these traits for planting or transfer to others for use as a planting seed. NOT ALL formulations of dicamba, glyphosate or glufosinate are approved for in-crop use with products with XtendFlex® Technology. ONLY USE FORMULATIONS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LABELED FOR SUCH USES AND APPROVED FOR SUCH USE IN THE STATE OF APPLICATION. Contact the U.S. EPA and your state pesticide regulatory agency with any questions about the approval status of dicamba herbicide products for in-crop use with products with XtendFlex® Technology. Only 2,4-D choline formulations with Colex-D® Technology are approved for use with Enlist E3® soybeans. Enlist E3® soybean technology is jointly developed with Corteva Agriscience LLC and M.S. Technologies, LLC. The Enlist trait and Enlist Weed Control System are technologies owned and developed by Corteva Agriscience LLC. Enlist® and Enlist E3® are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience LLC. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, YieldGard VT Pro® and XtendFlex® are registered trademarks used under license from the Bayer Group. More information about Syngenta corn products is available at http://www.biotradestatus.com. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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