Martin Porter says he was inspired by "poverty" to get into the seed business. He started out selling encyclopedias, he says. Then he went to work sweeping floors at Green Seed Company in Springfield in 1965. Eleven years later, the year of our country's Bicententennial, he and his wife, Linda, secured the funding to buy their own seed company. Fifty years later, as we celebrate 250 years of freedom, Martin's grandson, Austin, says their family has lived the American dream.
According to Martin, one day Hank Bradley at Green Seed Company asked if he'd be interested in selling some garden seed for him. When Martin agreed, he says Bradley "swatted me on the butt with a sales book and said 'sic 'em, Tiger.'" Martin's translation of that is that there's a lot of work ahead.
With "no more training than that swat," Martin set off into the world of seed sales.
One day he saw an ad for a seed business for sale. Seeing the 326 phone prefix, he thought it must be J.C. Meador's seed house in Bolivar, so he called him.
It turned out, the realtor's ad was for a seed store in Lebanon.
Though Martin had no inclination toward buying a seed store in Lebanon, you could say that his inquiry to Meador "planted the seed" for Porter's Seed House in Bolivar.
Martin and his wife Linda signed the papers to buy Meador's business July 9, 1976, during harvesting time.
The seed business is a lot of hard work. Linda did the bookkeeping and oversaw the financial planning, while Martin focused on buying and selling seed. They hired Edsel Keith, to help in the plant. Chuck Pierce joined the team in 1977 and served as plant manager until his retirement two years ago.
Early in the business, with an ideal location in southwest Missouri, the Porters began contracting with larger companies to buy and process fescue seed, a major cash crop for Missouri farmers.
Tony says his parents worked hard in those days; sometimes it was a struggle to run the business and raise a family in a new town. "Fortunately, Bolivar was a warm and receptive town and proved to be the perfect place to own a business and raise a family," he says. "Business decisions were always a team effort. … Their individual strengths complimented each other and helped contribute to their long term success," Tony said.
Over the years, some of the technology on the job has changed. They have gone from hand-loading trucks to using machinery to do the job. Also, they didn't have the luxury of air conditioning in the '70s, and drying seeds in an electric skillet in the office heated things up.
A piece of agricultural technology history still in use today? The grain probe.
For those who have never seen one before, a grain probe consists of two slotted pipes, one inside the other and roughly six feet long. The buyer inserts the probe into the grain that's brought in and rotates the tubes to open and receive grain at different depths allowing a look at the grain throughout the load.
Family is integral to Porter Seed House. Martin and Linda's three sons, Tony, John and Randy, all worked in the seed house in the summer. Their respective wives, Regina, Jill and Tanya, did too.
Then along came the third generation Austin, Andrea, Abby, Erin, Nova and Kegan.
"Austin's wife, Sydney, and John's wife Jill , are still instrumental in fescue harvest," Tony says.
Fourth generation Porters (Austin and Sydney's children), Addy and Axtin help tag seeds and pedal their bikes in the seed warehouses. However, Addy is currently best known for her wrestling expertise, and Axtin pilots a little red plane parked on the counter at the store.
The seed business put Tony through college, as he worked at the seed house part time and through the summers. As soon as he graduated Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU) with a degree in Agricultural business in 1988, he brought his knowledge and skills to the business full-time.
Tony's son, Austin, followed in his father's footsteps, working summers in the seed house until he joined the fulltime crew and continued working fulltime at the seed house through college at MSU, where he earned his degree in Economics.
Tony says, "My mother, 'Mammy,' passed in June of 2024, but her picture still hangs over her desk — a reminder of her dedication, wisdom, and love for her family and the seed business."
At Porter Seed House, the American Dream hasn't been a once-and-done deal. Through each year of hard work and seed sales, the Porters sow another year of growth in business and family.
"It has truly been a journey towards the American dream for the Porter Family," Tony says. "Through hard work, luck, great customers/friends and by the grace of God, Porter Seed House has survived 50 years and is in its fourth generation of operation."
