Learn About our Company History in 1985. Below is a Story Written in 1985 by Julie (Cornelius) Jacobi to commemorate the history of Cornelius Seed and celebrate the 50th anniversary from that year. 

Every family has something that they have worked hard to build successfully. Our family has the CORNELIUS Seed Corn Company-a family operation-to be extra proud of. Corn has been an aspect of our family heritage for 50 years. The whole idea of raising seed corn started with great-grandfather Charles Cornelius, and his profitable hobby of raising open pollinated (not detasseled) corn.

Charles selected and improved strains of Reids yellow dent, Golden Eagle, Early Leaming and Silvermine (a white variety). The corn was planted by hand. As he picked the corn with his team of horses and wagon, he selected ears with the desired characteristics of ear height, uniform size, stable stalk, lodging, etc.. These ears were put into a box he carried in the back of the wagon.

This hand selected corn was carried into a room in the attic of his house. Here it was stored on racks to dry. The room was heated by a stovepipe from the kitchen stove below. Later a bedroom and a new kitchen were added to the back of the house with a seed corn room above this. This room held about 150 bushels of corn on wire racks.

Later, during the winter months, he shelled and graded his corn by hand. He produced 100 to 150 bushels in this way. It was sold far $2.00 to $2.50 per bushel.

This was an absorbing interest to him and he continually selected his corn very carefully. In some cases Charles grew isolated plots where he crossed some varieties by hand detasseling. He was always excited about new and better ways to grow crops.

He continued with his open pollinated seed corn hobby until the advent of hybrid seed corn. With the rise of hybrid seed corn, the demand for open pollinated corn diminished.

Charles entered his corn in corn shows, winning numerous prizes at local and county exhibits and the state corn show in Ames, Iowa. In fact, we have a trophy he received for having the highest yielding acre of corn in the state of Iowa.

It was 1935 that Gilbert Cornelius, Charles' son, was contacted by a representative from Farmer's Hybrid Seed Corn Company of Hampton, Iowa to grow seed for them. He signed a contract to produce two acres. One-half of the crop went to the Farmer's Hybrid Seed Corn Company for furnishing the foundation seed, and one-half was kept by Gilbert for growing the seed. The hybrid plot was planted on Charles' farm, because he had a better isolated place for the seed. The first hybrids he were the 939 and 942 numbers. Charles took over detasseling the corn and from then on, he was enthusiastic about hybrid seed corn.

The next year he bought his own foundation seed from the Farmer's Hybrid Seed Corn Company and raised six acres of seed corn. Detasseling six acres of corn seemed like an enormous job at the time.

Charles daughter, Emma, and her husband Emil, moved to an adjoining farm where Gerald Cornelius now Lives. They too, were interested in the Seed Company, and it was organized with partners Charles, Gilbert and Emil.

Some of the seed was sold direct from the field, while the prime seed was dried on racks. Charles made more racks and stored them in the basement of his new home, which is presently owned by his other son, Lawrence. Emil Kruger also dried some in his house where Gerald (Gilbert's son) lived until building a new home.

The next year, 1936, quite a bit of seed corn was trucked to Bryant, Iowa, where it was dried and graded. In 1938, the partnership built their own dryer. This same year, the first CORNELIUS Seed Corn circular was printed.

Soon came a year of disaster. A very severe hail storm in 1945 totally destroyed the seed crop. The partners agreed to dry seed for a neighboring producer, McNeily Seeds. While drying their seed, the first plant, which was built in 1938, caught fire and burned to the ground.

Even while the partners watched the dying embers, they were already talking of a new plant they would soon build. They studied other plants before deciding on plans for their own. It was agreed upon to build away from other buildings in case of another fire. It was feared that Charles' new home may catch fire when the old plant burned.

It was decided that the plant would be built in two parts: a cement and steel building for sorting and drying and a frame building for processing and storage. Both buildings have been enlarged and an additional warehouse built to accommodate production increases.

In 1949 Emil decided to continue his training for the Christian ministry which the financial strain of the Great Depression of the 1930's had interrupted. He commuted to the Wartburg seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and continued as a partner in the seed corn business until his training was completed. At this time, the physical plant was purchased by Gilbert from Emil and Charles.

After World War II, Gilbert's brother, Lawrence, returned from the military service. Lawrence acquired an interest in the business and a new company was formed with the partners being Charles, Gilbert and Lawrence.

This arrangement continued until 1956, when Gilbert's oldest son, Gerald, graduated from Iowa State University with a major in Animal Husbandry, a minor in Agronomy and special training in Farm and Business Management. He returned to the family business and purchased Charles' share of the business. The partners were now Gilbert, Lawrence and Gerald. Gerald was engaged in farming which not only included seed corn, but also a herd of registered purebred Hereford cattle.

Charles moved to Andrew and was ready to retire as a partner in the firm. Although not as active, Charles still continued to help with the sorting at harvest, waiting on customers at the plant and selling seed corn to farmers throughout the 1966 season, until the age of 84. It was truly a life-long interest for Charles.

In 1959, Gilbert's other son, Paul, received his Masters degree in Crop Breeding and returned home to acquire a share in the business. Due to health reasons, it was advised that he should seek another occupation. He entered the University of Illinois where he earned a Doctorate in statistics and genetics. Paul is on the faculty at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and he still continues to direct the experimental research and test plots for the company. The company reorganized with the partners being Gilbert, Lawrence, Gerald and Paul.

In 1973, the family and business had to overcome the sad death of Gilbert Cornelius. Gerald became the business manager and a cousin, Ronald Cornelius became a member of the firm. Ron had graduated from mechanics school and was currently engaged in farming, so he was a definite asset to the company

On September 1, 1982, the CORNELIUS Seed Corn Company was incorporated. The current officers are: President-Gerald Cornelius; Vice-president-Lawrence Cornelius; Secretary-Ronald Cornelius; Treasurer-Chuck Cornellus. Current Directors are: Alice; Wanda; Gerald; Chuck; Lawrence; Ronald; and Paul Cornelius.

In May of 1983, Gerald's son, Chuck, graduated from Iowa State University with a major in Agronomy. Chuck returned home to the family operations which currently include the Seed Corn Company and purebred registered Polled Hereford and Crossbred Simmental and Salers cattle. He acquired a share of the business in April of 1984.

The main office is located in the home of Gerald and Wanda Cornelius where the bookkeeping is done. Dealers and their wives stop in for business and are welcomed into their home for a cup of coffee and friendly conversation.

From 1935 to the present, the CORNELIUS Seed Corn Company has progressed from a two acre plot to a production of 25,000 units. The seed is sold through 185 dealerships existing in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska. In 1936 Charles did all the detasseling and today at the peak between 70 and 100 young people from Andrew, Springbrook, Bellevue and Maquoketa are hired each summer to pull the tassels.

Many good friends and associates have been met through the business and the CORNELIUS Seed Corn Company appreciates the loyalty of our friends and neighbors. In many cases the names of three or four generations of a family. Our dealer List has contained some of the same family names for two or three generations.

The CORNELIUS Seed Corn Company is celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary in 1985. In order to keep a profitable operation going for fifty years, it takes many long days, short nights and much for another fifty successful years.