This month we’re featuring Prairie Road Organic Seed as part of our Business Member Spotlight series. Located in Fullerton, North Dakota, Prairie Road Organic Seed specializes in vegetable seed adapted to Northern growing conditions, selling dozens of organic varieties, many of which were bred on-farm.
Theresa and Dan Podoll, along with Dan’s brother David, collaboratively manage the farm and seed business. Their work with seed is best described as a commitment to the principle of diversity, both in terms of the diversity of plants on the landscape and genetic diversity within the plants themselves. “Genetic diversity is at the heart of the ability of our food crops to adapt to a changing environment, including disease and pest cycles, and challenging climatic conditions,” says Theresa. She points to wildly fluctuating weather, including high winds, periods of drought and floods, and dangerously high heat indexes. “We are committed to the maintenance and improvement of open-pollinated varieties, empowering the selection and adaptation of varieties to these unpredictable, extreme weather events.”
The Podolls say relationships with national organizations and forward-looking thinkers inspired them to focus on integrating and adapting seed to the organic farming systems in their region. They point to their participation and involvement with organizations like OSA and the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society’s Farm Breeding Club. After decades of variety development and improvement, they offered their seed through other organic seed companies and launched their own label, Prairie Road Organic Seed, in 2012.
Check out Prairie Road Organic Seed’s online catalogue.
