Kate Manen

Latham Hi-Tech Seeds

Latham Seed was founded in 1947 in Alexander, Iowa, by farmer Willard Latham and his wife, Evelyn. Willard was an innovator, helping farmers in his area protect their oat crops against disease by retrofitting a piece of equipment that helped clean and preserve their crop. Meanwhile, Evelyn ran the "office" from their kitchen, making numerous trips daily from the house to the outbuildings whenever Willard needed to take a phone call. She was literally the chief cook and bottle washer. Plus, she was the busy mom of four boys under the age of seven with one on the way. Willard began Latham Seeds with oats and later transitioned into soybean production. Three of his sons joined the business in the 1960's-70's and added a sales component to the company's production efforts. The third generation of Lathams added hybrid corn and hi-tech forage to the product lineup, providing farmers with more choices for their field. Willard and Evelyn's family home has been converted into company headquarters, and the former family room serves as the office lobby today. What was Evelyn's kitchen now serves as Shannon Latham's office, where she cooks up marketing ideas like the Latham Freedom of Independence Ride. Business meetings have transitioned from the kitchen table to the conference room. Our dedication, however, remains unchanged, with a focus on meeting customers' needs with the most superior varieties of soybean seed, hybrid seed corn, alfalfa seed and cover crop seed.