Seed Industry Pros Relaunching Crow’s Brand in Eastern Corn Belt

Crow’s Hybrids, originally from Milford, IL, was launched in 1935.

Using its six decade legacy as a springboard, Outward Ag LLC will be relaunching Crow’s Seed in the eastern corn belt. 

“There is great passion among farmers and seed professionals for what the future could hold, but there is also frustration. The people of agriculture are being left behind. While the rest of the industry turns inward, we are outward-focused. We know the trusted relationships between seed professionals and their customers, earned season after season, are the cornerstone of success. With the launch of Midwest and NC+, and now with Crow’s, we are putting people first.” says Erik Nelson, CEO, Outward Ag.

Over the past four years, Outward Ag LLC has reestablished Midwest Seed Genetics in the Central and Northern Corn Belt and NC+ in the West. 

Crow’s Seed grew from its Illinois roots, and in the late 1990s Don Funk acquired Crow’s expanded it to a regional seed company. Its history continued as one of the foundational brands for Channel, which was acquired by Monsanto—now Bayer.  

“Growing up in the seed business, Crow’s was always a well-respected, regional brand. When my father Don acquired it in the late nineties, he turned it into a rocket ship, introducing new technologies and traits to a generation of farmers,” says Dan Funk, who now handles marketing for Outward Ag. “Today, farmers are telling us they want choice. They want a simpler way of doing things. They want the gimmicks and layers of corporate agriculture stripped away. So now, Crow’s will do just that, in a geography where it is needed.” 

Crow’s re-launch will be led by Michelle Vigna, who had many roles at Monsanto, then Bayer, including as the System Launch Manager for the Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System in US Product Management and Marketing from 2012 through 2014.