Our Story

William Wyffels Sr. and his wife, Alma (Francque), were children of Belgian immigrants who came to the United States seeking a better life in the farming communities of west central Illinois. Alma’s family settled and farmed in Whiteside County, while in neighboring Henry County, the Wyffels family was pursuing a similar agricultural lifestyle. Hard work and persistence served them well as they established themselves in their new environment.

Young Bill showed a keen interest in learning, but time for education was limited by the need to help provide for his family, which had grown to include seven siblings. Although opportunities for learning were delayed, they were not to be denied. Bill would spend his adult life in a quest for knowledge and for innovative methods for improving crop and livestock production.

While continuing to work on the family farm, Bill’s goal was to build a nest egg that would allow him to break out on his own. He started taking jobs with local businesses and did hired work for neighboring farmers. Bill and Alma were married in 1941. By the mid 40’s, the young couple was able to purchase a 160-acre farm in northern Henry county.

Just as Bill and Alma were starting their own farming operation, Bill met the local Henry County Extension agent, who was just out of college, newly assigned to the county, and full of ideas he wanted to try. Bill, always the curious type, was very open to exploring ways to potentially improve production agriculture. This was the beginning of a long relationship that led to numerous experiments and university demonstrations on the Wyffels farm.

In the 1940s, oats were used for feed and bedding by pork producers. Interest in improved oat production was particularly high among Bill and Alma’s neighbors, since Henry County, Illinois, was the largest hog producing county in the U.S. during that era. Driven by the desire to find an oat variety that could withstand Illinois winds, Bill and Alma collaborated early on with the University of Illinois in establishing the annual Henry County Oat Demonstration Plot on the Wyffels farm. New oat varieties, developed by the University of Illinois and other Land Grant colleges, were collected for planting. Farmers were invited in to view the new oat varieties and listen to Extension Agents and University of Illinois breeders discuss varieties and the latest crop production topics. As it would turn out, the oat trials were a precursor to Bill and Alma’s later venture into the seed business. Intent on making improved oat varieties available to area growers, Bill and Alma Wyffels began their first year in the seed business in 1946.

In 1956, as farmers planted fewer oat acres and more to corn, Bill began selling his first seed corn to neighboring farmers. When southern corn leaf blight devastated the corn belt in 1970, Bill quickly transitioned to marketing true single cross hybrids. A breakthrough came in 1973. Wyffels introduced W26, a unique, high-performance corn hybrid that stormed county test sites, earned the attention of growers, and created tremendous demand. Just one year later, Bill Wyffels Sr. died unexpectedly.

Deciding to move forward with their enduring tradition in agriculture, the Wyffels family continued on in the seed business. Their father’s long-standing commitment to innovation, integrity, and excellence would be their guide. With the demand generated by W26, a team of seed dealers was recruited to market the brand to an expanded geographic area, and the second generation of the seed business was launched.

Today, owners Bill Wyffels Jr. and Bob Wyffels firmly believe the business principles passed on by their parents have been key to the company’s success.

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