“I remember walking out to the test plot and thinking, what are they doing with this?” said Beck, president of the nation’s largest family-owned retail-seed company.

Beck’s – the company founded by his great-grandfather – doesn’t use the playhouse now, but its commitment to research and dissemination of knowledge is stronger than ever. So is its family-centered mission.

Sonny Beck, Scott Beck’s father and the company’s chief executive officer, recalls a talk in 1990 with his wife, Glendia Beck. They were at a fork in the road.

“I said, ‘How are we going to survive? There are 300 seed companies and a third of us will be gone by the year 2000 and another third will merge with someone else and take on another name,’” he said.

Beck’s is one of those seed suppliers that has not only survived but grown steadily through the decades. Its roots date back to 1833, when John and Ana Beck, along with three young children, first immigrated to the United States. One of those children was Francis Beck Sr. who, with his wife Sarah Beck, then had six children. The youngest of their sons was Lawrence Beck, who ultimately purchased the original 80-acre farm where Beck’s headquarters now sits.

Their descendants attribute their success to a vision that embraces family, faith and focus. “Status quo” is a foreign concept to a company that thrives on constant growth.

“I’ve never seen anything that leveled out that didn’t go down,” Sonny Beck said. “I’m going to challenge myself to be 10 percent better. We seldom have numbers goals. We just try to improve what we do today, this week and this year, to think about how you can make things 10 percent better. That’s all you can control.”

One of the company’s brightest accomplishments is remaining family-focused while steadily growing into a major player in the seed industry. That’s no accident. It stems from the figurative roots of the family.

“We’re farmers at heart,” Scott Beck said. “More than half of our employees grew up on the farm.”

The challenge of keeping family at the forefront is not lost on the Beck family. Sonny and Scott Beck sit atop the leadership and management pyramid, while those surrounding them are comprised of both family members and long-time company employees.

“Over the last 10 years or so we made quite a bit of progress from the ownership side of things as well as leadership and control,” Scott Beck said. “The way the company is operated is through the leadership team. The board of directors consisted of all family a few years ago. Now the makeup is of the leadership team, any trustees, and also family members with significant ownership.”

Scott and his wife, Shantel Beck, have five children; three of them are sons who work for the company. Sonny and Glendia’s daughter, Kim and her husband, Todd Marshand, have a daughter and son-in-law working for the company as well.

“They want to be here long-term,” Beck said. “Right now we don’t have competition between them for certain roles. They do different things.”

Sonny Beck is well into his 80s but is far from contemplating retirement. He still puts in 12- to 14-hour days.

“I’ve probably cut down a little bit,” he said. “I figured out a long time ago that I can get by with four to six hours of sleep. I come from a farm, so I’m generally going to work Saturdays. I know I’m not as smart as a lot of people, but I can outwork them.”

Several years ago while he still held the dual title of president and CEO, he said he realized he was more comfortable with the technical side of the business.

“I told Scott that he is really good with people,” he said. “(I said,) ‘You relate to them and they relate to you.’

“I used to do a lot of that, being out front, visiting employees and dealers, those kinds of things. Now I have employees report to me for production, processing and facilities. Those are things that are behind the scenes.”

Sonny Beck said he hopes the company founded in 1937 will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2037 as well as future anniversaries as a family-owned enterprise.

“I always prayed that if my grandsons or granddaughters desired to be involved in the family business that they would each bring different skillsets to the table,” he said. “It simply wouldn’t work if they all wanted to be president.”

Family ownership is a concept understood by farmers, most of whom also navigate the benefits and challenges that come with it.

“We receive very favorable encouragement and appreciation for staying family-owned,” Scott Beck said.

One thing that resonates with customers, he said, is Beck’s commitment to agricultural research. The company realized decades ago that in the face of dwindling resources in university-Extension programs, the collection and dissemination of knowledge is a critical part of service that goes hand in hand with sales.

Beck’s invests heavily in its Practical Farm Research® program that has grown into a comprehensive on-farm research program consisting of 150 plots at 10 locations across the Midwest. Hundreds of studies are conducted there each year to help farmers be more profitable. The studies span everything from nutrient efficiency to planting methods to water-level management. Results are published regularly and are available to anyone, customers or not.

That early field day – when young Scott’s playhouse was commandeered and converted to a refreshment stand – has grown to Becknology™ Days held annually at seven regional locations. They’re capped by a three-day event at the company headquarters in Atlanta, Indiana.

“We’re farmers at heart,” Scott Beck said. “We’re curious about agriculture and how to do things better. Doing (Practical Farm Research) is a natural outgrowth of what we’re interested in, and it happens to be attractive to many farmers. We connect with farmers, and we’ve established that relationship that lets them know we’re investing to help them. It leads to deeper conversations about products.”

The company operates on the concept that it’s better for business if customers are more successful. The family dynamic serves as a blueprint for strategic decisions.

Scott Beck has a two-word response when asked if he anticipates the company ever going public.

“I don’t,” he said. “We’re pretty stuck on the mission of staying family-owned.”