Westland Seed: Ready for the next 50 years

Westland Seed founder Ken Sagmiller was a Ford man, while son David Sagmiller prefers Dodge Rams. But with the two Sagmillers taking turns at the wheel, Westland Seed is celebrating 50 years in business.

“Dad ran it for 30 years,” David said, until he passed away in 2003. David took the reins in 2004, buying out his siblings. He built an 80-by-100 foot warehouse, and went into retail, all in one year. In 2011, he had an outdoor overhang enclosed and built his office.

David credits the business’s longevity to an extremely capable and talented group of employees and loyal customers in the Mission Valley and beyond.

“We’re blessed that our customers continue to support us,” David said.

Then there is the homegrown Westland Seed crew, all the women and men who poured brains, heart, hard work, and customer service into the company.

The list of long-time employees begins with Forrest Johnsen, who’s “been here forever.” Johnsen has been with the firm since the beginning, first delivering seed, then as a foreman, a seed and fertilizer salesman, and holding down all sorts of other jobs before becoming head of the fertilizer division in 1990.

Lana Bartel, who retired two and a half ago, was also a mainstay of Westland Seed. Ken hired her fresh out of business school as a secretary and she worked up to general manager.

Other longtime employees include Les Buckman, who worked at Westland for 40 years; and Debbie Thingelstad, Bill Bartel and Monica McClure. Sagmiller adds that newer hires have also added depth and knowledge to the company.

Farmers and ranchers rely on Westland Seed for feed, seed, fertilizer, and chemicals. They want a ”nice clean field that produces well,” Johnsen said.

At the same time, newcomers to the Mission Valley often walk in the door with plenty of questions, including what crops grow well here, the best feed for chickens, or what fertilizer to apply to their cherry trees and when. The capable crew helps them find the answers.

Western Seed is born

First called Western Seed and Supply, the company was launched in 1973 when, after a couple of winters in frozen Bismarck, N.D., Ken and Eloise Sagmiller moved their family back to Ronan. Ken, who’d been working for the Peavey Company, bought the Western Montana Cooperative Feed Growers Association and went into business for himself.

The Charlo cooperative carried grass and alfalfa seed. Neal Coulter, Maxine Knight and Homer Piedalue were a few of the co-op members, according to Johnsen, who serves as company historian.

David has the co-op’s ledger, and the last entry in it is Ken’s purchase of the co-op. Ken’s brother, Jerry, was involved from the beginning too.

Ken set up shop at the current site in Ronan. They sold grass and alfalfa seed, grain, pellets, feed, mineral blocks, and other farm and ranch necessities. Some of the seeds were raised in the Mission Valley or in Hot Springs.

To start a garden store, Ken acquired Buster Bryant’s lumber yard, located where Ronan School District #30 Maintenance Department is now.

Fire destroys feed plant

Then, catastrophe struck. The feed plant, located where the greenhouse is now, burned down on Dec.6, 1984. It was a big blow, but a picture in the local paper showed Ken back in business the following Monday at the garden store, which served as the main store until Westland Seed was rebuilt and ready to go in 1985.

Much of that building remains but has been redesigned and enlarged. The Dutch door that now leads into agronomy used to be the main sales counter. Local ranchers’ brands decorate the north wall that in Ken’s day was the back wall of the store, with the warehouse in back of that.

Ken’s office has morphed into the Groom Room, a space devoted to pet grooming. Outside, an overhang that sheltered semis out of the weather was enclosed in 2011.

To load those semis during Ken’s time, Westland Seed ran two shifts in their bagging plant, filling and sewing shut 100-pound bags of seed, at a rate of least 26 tons per shift, according to Johnsen, who said semis at that time hauled 25 tons. Now the bags look like giant tote bags and hold a ton of seed each.

Ken kept adding to the business, sending Forrest and David off to deliver seed and grain to small feed stores around the area. He purchased Western Ag from John Starkel in 1992 and added the CHS fertilizer plant to the company in 1994. Westland Seed still owns the seed plant in Charlo and grain elevators along the railroad there.

Building a one-stop shop

David didn’t just step into Westland Seed as the CEO. He started working at the business when he was 14 or so.

“I was the Head Toilet Bowl Cleaner,” David laughed. He also cleaned the break room after breaks at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when workers from the pellet mill and the bagging crew left plenty of muddy boot prints to mop and dust to sweep.

David went from cleaner to truck driver, delivering orders to small feed stores. Then he worked on the bagging crew and took a turn at the garden store before moving to California. One of the few jobs he didn’t take a turn at was running the cleaner, where multiple layers of screens filter out dirt, rocks, junk and grasshoppers from the seed.

In early 1990 David returned to Ronan and started work Jan. 2 in the fertilizer plant. “I was on the sprayer, and Forrest was on the phone,” he recalled.

“We were rockin’ and rollin’ in the 90’s,” David said. “It was good to come back.”

Fueled by youthful enthusiasm, David and Forrest planted test plots with alfalfa and small grains, and then replicated the plots the next year.

“You could say to customers, ‘This is what your product looks like,’” David explained.

Westland Seed would invite dealers and growers to come for a big feed and to look at the test plots. Then everyone would caravan around to see growers’ fields.

“We used to sell the heck out of” Ladak Certified Dryland Alfalfa, David said, remembering hitting the road to sell seed. “It’s got a big old taproot.”

“We had 400,000 pounds of Ladak seed on hand when Dad died,” he added.

Most of the seed went to Washington or the panhandle of Idaho with David selling it and Forrest providing the experience. Westland Seed still gets requests for Ladak, Johnsen noted, mostly from the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management who use it to reclaim land after forest fires.

Now, David’s goal is for Westland Seed to be “a one-stop shop.”

“Westland Seed is actually very diversified,” Johnsen added. The business carries grass seeds, small grains, fertilizer, chemicals, custom farming and/or tillage equipment, fertilizer and chemical spraying. In addition, there is a farm and garden ranch center, a retail department, a sporting goods department, the Groom Room, a greenhouse, pet supplies, and an outdoor store, according to their website westlandseed.com.

With loyal customers and great customer service, Westland Seed is ready for another 50 years.