Starting a US-based Seed Company

Coughie · Jan 13, 2018

I'm trying to wrap my head around everything involved in starting a US-based seed company.
I'd love to talk to some people who have been doing this, about the workings of it.

Trying to wrap my head around the $$$ part
Trying to wrap my head around the packaging part
Trying to wrap my head around the distribution part

Would greatly appreciate anyone willing to help me, feel free to PM me if you wish to keep it all private, I'm just simply hoping theres a kind individual who might point me in the right directions and hold my hand for a few short steps....

Anyone?

thejact55 · Jan 13, 2018

Me too lol. I day dream alot about this. Actually have a name, logo and business statement on a word doc.
When it comes down to it though, i would have no patience for the red tape bullshit and government extortion.
I would actually like to open up a store front for a garden store that specialized in all exotic seeds that shipped online also. A combination hydro/home and gardening with a slight but not looming presence on herbs that affect mind and body such as cannabis, kratom ect... in a perfect world, which ours is not. Good luck. Share what you can if you dont mind.

djimb · Jan 13, 2018

I've got similar interests myself, with more of a collection and preservation spin, along the lines of RSC and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for edibles and other useful crops. I would be inclined to keep the prices of pure landrace seed low to encourage their preservation throughout the community, but charge a higher price for worked hybrid lines.

I also think the legal environment this sort of an endeavor would require could be conducive to a subsidiary company selling high quality, long cured landrace smokeables to help offset the costs of seed production for those varieties.

Unfortunately I have a background in horticulture and IT rather than business and law. I'm subbed in the hope of gleaning some good info.

Thanks for starting this thread, coughie!

djimb · Jan 13, 2018

Also, in the hope of contributing something useful, it seems like most US based seed production has its roots in medical states from way back. I believe Dynasty is based in Oregon and I imagine they started out as a small medical grower that started breeding and now sells seeds through a handful of big distributors.
I've also heard that Cali Connection was started in a dude's closet with a few OG cuts and some colloidal silver.

I think if you've got a surplus of seed you're looking to sell, you could probably get in touch with US based distributors like GLG or JamesBean.
Alternatively maybe talk to Old Pink about sending seeds in for seedbay and work toward becoming a vendor on seedboutique.

Those are the steps I'm considering taking in the future, once I've got a few solid seed lines worked.

thejact55 · Jan 13, 2018

djimb said:
I've got similar interests myself, with more of a collection and preservation spin, along the lines of RSC and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for edibles and other useful crops. I would be inclined to keep the prices of pure landrace seed low to encourage their preservation throughout the community, but charge a higher price for worked hybrid lines.

yes, this! my thoughts too
ok, i'll quite gumming up the thread, and hopefully some meaningful input comes.

Easy7 · Jan 13, 2018

I can say from a consumer perspective. Carry a unique business model.

I can think of Euro breeders that still have good product. I can think of USA breeders that are same old same old and others that are over priced.

There is a good product when it has a rep and is CHEAP. There are already a dozen seed shops in the states that all carry the same breeders. It's like having 12 walmarts in the same small town. It does not lower prices or offer new products. That's what I as a consumer desire. New and less expensive with the same quality. If not delivered on that, then there is no monitary exchange motivator.

Lot's of the USA breeders make beans with names and lineage I have no history with. There is no trust or relationship what so ever. They aren't even being grown by icmag or other growers showing reports on the web. Only a hyped description and a sexy bud shot (not even always all that sexy and we know how strain descriptions go).

led05 · Jan 13, 2018

Coughie said:
I'm trying to wrap my head around everything involved in starting a US-based seed company.
I'd love to talk to some people who have been doing this, about the workings of it.

Trying to wrap my head around the $$$ part
Trying to wrap my head around the packaging part
Trying to wrap my head around the distribution part

Would greatly appreciate anyone willing to help me, feel free to PM me if you wish to keep it all private, I'm just simply hoping theres a kind individual who might point me in the right directions and hold my hand for a few short steps....

Anyone?

Start it, breed pounds of seeds, preserve it and wait until ignorance is beaten enough before you have your first customer, at least on national level....

stoned40yrs · Jan 13, 2018

Maybe pm some guys on here that are doing it like Karma, I also see TheRealHash selling his TRH seeds at headies.

Ringodoggie · Jan 13, 2018

Just curious if you're talking about becoming a seedbank (and distributing other people's seeds). Or, if you want to breed your own strains and sell them.

You're getting comments from both sides.

~star~crash~ · Jan 13, 2018

coughie that seed biz is a dog eat dog world ....

Thcvhunter · Jan 13, 2018

Its a seedy business and dog-eat-dog

I havent even filed any paperwork and my gear is already being ripped off.

Keep doing it for the passion, not the money.
Theres enough greedy people in the seed biz.

Coughie · Jan 14, 2018

thejact55 said:
Me too lol. I day dream alot about this. Actually have a name, logo and business statement on a word doc.
When it comes down to it though, i would have no patience for the red tape bullshit and government extortion.
I would actually like to open up a store front for a garden store that specialized in all exotic seeds that shipped online also. A combination hydro/home and gardening with a slight but not looming presence on herbs that affect mind and body such as cannabis, kratom ect... in a perfect world, which ours is not. Good luck. Share what you can if you dont mind.

Thanks for chiming in! I'm not sure there's a whole lot of red tape involved at the moment, I'm just trying to figure out the right way to go about it and cover my ass the most I can.

djimb said:
I've got similar interests myself, with more of a collection and preservation spin, along the lines of RSC and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for edibles and other useful crops. I would be inclined to keep the prices of pure landrace seed low to encourage their preservation throughout the community, but charge a higher price for worked hybrid lines.

I also think the legal environment this sort of an endeavor would require could be conducive to a subsidiary company selling high quality, long cured landrace smokeables to help offset the costs of seed production for those varieties.

Unfortunately I have a background in horticulture and IT rather than business and law. I'm subbed in the hope of gleaning some good info.

Thanks for starting this thread, coughie!

This is very similar to what I'm thinking of, as far as the collection and preservationist aspect goes. I'm planning on keeping them pure, but also working landrace hybrids using stabilized lines, and working the hybrids into stabilized lines.

Thanks for your input!

djimb said:
Also, in the hope of contributing something useful, it seems like most US based seed production has its roots in medical states from way back. I believe Dynasty is based in Oregon and I imagine they started out as a small medical grower that started breeding and now sells seeds through a handful of big distributors.
I've also heard that Cali Connection was started in a dude's closet with a few OG cuts and some colloidal silver.

I think if you've got a surplus of seed you're looking to sell, you could probably get in touch with US based distributors like GLG or JamesBean.
Alternatively maybe talk to Old Pink about sending seeds in for seedbay and work toward becoming a vendor on seedboutique.

Those are the steps I'm considering taking in the future, once I've got a few solid seed lines worked.

Appreciate your input, that's sort of how i've imagined it as well. It's some of the details that I'm curious about

Easy7 said:
I can say from a consumer perspective. Carry a unique business model.

I can think of Euro breeders that still have good product. I can think of USA breeders that are same old same old and others that are over priced.

There is a good product when it has a rep and is CHEAP. There are already a dozen seed shops in the states that all carry the same breeders. It's like having 12 walmarts in the same small town. It does not lower prices or offer new products. That's what I as a consumer desire. New and less expensive with the same quality. If not delivered on that, then there is no monitary exchange motivator.

Lot's of the USA breeders make beans with names and lineage I have no history with. There is no trust or relationship what so ever. They aren't even being grown by icmag or other growers showing reports on the web. Only a hyped description and a sexy bud shot (not even always all that sexy and we know how strain descriptions go).

I really appreciate the consumer perspective, it's given me a few things to think about.

led05 said:
Start it, breed pounds of seeds, preserve it and wait until ignorance is beaten enough before you have your first customer, at least on national level....

stoned40yrs said:
Maybe pm some guys on here that are doing it like Karma, I also see TheRealHash selling his TRH seeds at headies.

I've done this a little, but those guys are busy so I thought if maybe they seen a thread on it then they could approach the topic in their own time instead of having some random PM from some whoorah.

Ringodoggie said:
Just curious if you're talking about becoming a seedbank (and distributing other people's seeds). Or, if you want to breed your own strains and sell them.

You're getting comments from both sides.

Most definitely wanting to breed my own strains and offer them.

~star~crash~ said:
coughie that seed biz is a dog eat dog world ....

Thcvhunter said:
Its a seedy business and dog-eat-dog

I havent even filed any paperwork and my gear is already being ripped off.

Keep doing it for the passion, not the money.
Theres enough greedy people in the seed biz.

It's definitely a dog-eat-dog business, and it's not a get rich quick scheme. It may not even prove to be worth my time. Which is half the reason i'm asking questions instead of just diving into it.

My work wont just be feminized 'elite' names or even really back cross projects - as both seem to be pretty famous in this period. There's nothing wrong with the feminizers or backcrossers, they all have a place in the market and in the garden, that's just not where my passion is.

I'm looking at old school elbow grease, in line breeding the more traditional way, both before and after making crosses. So if they wanna rip me off, they're going to have to use my finished work to offer another generation - kinda silly - or find the same seeds as me, make the same crosses so they can claim the same thing, and sell them at a fraction of what would already be a lower price.

It's not for the money, and I have the years, so the strains are going to be naturally produced because I have that passion.

It's fun to think I could share,
But there's details to work out first

Spaventa · Jan 14, 2018

I day dream about a starting seed company too. Im interested in supplying pure landraces - no breeding work but lots of work finding, acquiring , test growing, selecting and describing them. My strategy is to establish some connections at source and get them to supply me wholesale.

I imagine my target customers would be breeders, amateur and pro.

Easy7 · Jan 14, 2018

Old pure sativa's can command quite a price these days. Lot's of old timers living their dream growing out legendary sativa's.

I'm just not anywhere near the west coast, so a lot of what modern bean makers are creating rings nowhere near any bells. It's always so risky buying a pack of beans. Rare to find stability enough to run from seed outdoors, expecting consistency.

What sort of genetics interest you enough to want to spread around?

stim · Jan 14, 2018

MI has some in state seed banks and there is one mentioned all the time on certain cannabis radio shows. Find one and ask wisely

Easy7 · Jan 14, 2018

With folks like Sessions and Trump on their bible banging crusade, I'd find a seed bank to be risky biz.

Wouldn't want to be the biggest target on their office wall.

frostqueen · Jan 14, 2018

What state are you in? If you are thinking about an above-board seed production business, knowing the exact situation/process for your state is the first step to understanding what obstacles you face. In legal states there are lawyers who specialize in sorting out the legalities for you. As long as cannabis is federally scheduled you WILL need a lawyer.

I have been giving the seed company idea some thought as well. I have a stable of many elite clone-onlys as well as my own hybrids from past projects. I've often wondered if there would be much demand for various crosses of elite cuts for people to grow out and explore. Like GG#4 crossed with Dogwalker OG, or Obama Kush crossed with Wifi, or maybe Charlotte's Web crossed with AC/DC or Harle-tsunami, or White Rhino x Blueberry, or Bruce Banner #3 x Ghost OG...

But this makes me a 'rip-off' in the eyes of the community, so that might not be best. I also have some landraces to create lines from scratch, so maybe that is a better idea.

Also, in the end lots of people will be doing this 'celebrity strain matchmaking' anyway, so I'm not sure it's worth it. I have some amazing proprietary hybrids, but getting people to buy unknown names is a lot harder than one might think...

troutman · Jan 14, 2018

The US of A is a weird place when it comes to laws.

Like they'll maybe throw your ass in jail for Cannabis.

But it's ok for the average Joe to buy a handgun?

thejact55 · Jan 14, 2018

troutman said:
The US of A is a weird place when it comes to laws.

Like they'll maybe throw your ass in jail for Cannabis.

But it's ok for the average Joe to buy a handgun?

Laws- It all comes down to the almighty dollar.
Hoping the cannabis community can come together with their billions of dollar market and form a coalition as the gun community has. Buy off lawmakers and force our agenda...like the pharma, agriculture, guns, big corporations, ect all do. If we can beat em, lets join em and be dirty fuckers like the rest of em.

djimb · Jan 14, 2018

frostqueen said:
Also, in the end lots of people will be doing this 'celebrity strain matchmaking' anyway, so I'm not sure it's worth it. I have some amazing proprietary hybrids, but getting people to buy unknown names is a lot harder than one might think...

I think that's where a strong presence in the forums is important. If you consider that all markets seem to be driven by online advertising in the form of user generated content, drumming up hype is going to be crucial. In most cases, this means you'd have to breed toward photogenic bag appeal and get testers into the hands of we'll known tastemakers to show off your product.

There is a market for spindly long flowering varieties too, but it's more of a niche. The same logic applies though. If you got seeds to some of the folks around here who have threads with hundreds of pages and set up shop on seedbay, you'd probably find some success

thejact55 said:
Laws- It all comes down to the almighty dollar.
Hoping the cannabis community can come together with their billions of dollar market and form a coalition as the gun community has. Buy off lawmakers and force our agenda...like the pharma, agriculture, guns, big corporations, ect all do. If we can beat em, lets join em and be dirty fuckers like the rest of em.

If we get organized, a cannabis lobby would be super effective. The only problem I see is that even if tobacco and big ag don't get into the cannabis game, large profitable operations will have the most control over the regulations and might end up making it difficult for smaller businesses to succeed or even get started. On a personal level, I guess if federal legalization happens without homegrow provisions, folks in illegal states will continue doing things the same way they are now.

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