While being a farmer in Saskatchewan was a common occupation, changes in the Agriculture industry and others that affect it made farming a lot riskier and less profitable. Diversification was needed to improve farming practices and to find new ways to utilize the land. Our grandfather Jim Simpson and his three sons Tom, Greg and John saw an opportunity to try something new and diversify their own family farm.
That something new was growing yellow peas in 1975. Today, yellow peas are a crop grown on many farms, however at the time the Simpson boys were thought to be a little unwise for attempting to grow a different crop. It proved to be a successful venture and opened the door for other pulse crops such as lentils, peas and chickpeas. These crops are now some of the main crops grown on the Simpson farm and on other farms in the surrounding area.
Farming is typically seasonal work, where most time is spent from late April through to the middle of September seeding, spraying and harvesting the crop. This leaves a six month window in the fall and winter where growers don't have a crop to earn income, which can be extremely tough in the event of a poor crop in the previous year. It was decided that as a way of filling in the time and reducing risk during the winter months, they would build a plant to clean commercial seed for farmers. The brothers thought this would be a good way of working through the winter months, as it was a business that could be run in conjunction with the family farm operation.
The company now known as Simpson Seeds Inc. was incorporated August 13, 1979. Once again, taking a chance paid off, and the business continued to evolve. The next step came as a decision to do third party processing for export markets which lead to Simpson Seeds establishing their own client base overseas, thus, the international export program was born.
Processing and exporting a range of lentil varieties is now the focal point of the company. With growing demand for pulse crops in the early 1990's, a second location for processing was built just north of the city of Moose Jaw along the #1 Highway. This plant was opened and fully operational in 1995, with a second cleaning line being implemented in 2002. This location provides direct access to rail which allows ease of shipment to markets through the ports of Vancouver and Montreal. Currently Simpson Seeds exports to approximately 70 countries around the world.
Family Businesses are unique and have been part of the fabric of Saskatchewan Agribusiness for many generations. We believe that family businesses play an important role in the Canadian Economy in terms of job creation, innovation and growth. In order for a family business to grow we need to be innovative and move forward as a united front. We are pleased to announce the addition of Nolan Simpson, the sixth member of the third generation of Simpsons to join Simpson Seeds Inc. Nolan is a software programmer by trade and brings 10 years of experience in the field of Information Technology to the table. We are extremely excited to have Nolan on board and are looking forward to all of the exciting things he will accomplish to take SSI to the next level!
Many people are often surprised to see this many family members in one company, and some days we surprise ourselves. But as a family we see the value in working together towards a much bigger, better goal and would like to apply this to our industry. We have all lived through challenges that face other farm families and processors; but thanks to strong local support and the opportunity to communicate directly with international buyers, we are able to work with our customers both locally and globally to promote Canadian pulses and strengthen our industry. We are extremely thankful and proud to be a family business operating in the Canadian and Saskatchewan Agri-business sector, and would like to thank all of those who have supported and continue to support Simpson Seeds. We look forward to working with our customer family to triumph over any challenges that we may face, and are excited to see what is in store for the pulse crop industry!
