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Bloomfield, KY. | I don't believe the two Funk families were closely related. The Funk's G hybrid people were from Bloomington, IL. They were descendants of Isaac Funk, who was born in central KY., and moved to Ohio and then to IL. as a young man. He amassed thousands of acres of central IL. prairie--I believe around a 100,000 acres if I recall correctly. He was a very powerful man in politics in the mid-1800s. His grandson, Eugene Funk, was a pioneer in the development of hybrid corn, beginning as far back, I think, as the 1890s.
The Funks from Indiana, were descendants of Edward J. Funk. He began producing hybrid seed corn in the mid-1930s. The brand name was Super Crost.
Funk's G was the largest seed corn company in the country in the early years. When I was young, it was still one of the Big 3, along with Dekalb & Pioneer. They were acquired by CIBA-Geigy, and eventually disappeared as the result of acquisitions & mergers.
Golden Harvest & Agri-Gold were started by growers associated with Funk's G.
As far as I know, no one from the IL. Funk family is associated with the seed corn business today. The home farm of Eugene Funk is, I think, operated by a foundation or something. I think his home is open for tours.
Super Crost was never larger than a regional brand. Edward J. Funk's grandson, Don, is still a player in the seed corn industry.
Jack McClaskey | |
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Funk's seed corn
