LONDON, Ohio – The Farm Science Review (FSR) is entering its 60th year of existence, and just one family seed corn company has been an exhibitor at every single show – Ruff’s Seeds.

In the mid-1930s, hybrid seed corn had not yet changed the world of agriculture, but early innovators recognized its potential to do so. One of those innovators was Herb Ruff. Ruff was farming 110 acres just outside of Amanda in southern Fairfield County when he decided he needed to do something different to stabilize his farm income.

Ruff’s Seed Farms was established in 1936 and is an early pioneer of hybrid seed corn development in Ohio. The family-owned business has always marketed to farmers in the range of 300 and 500 acres.

“Herb was a one-of-a-kind guy,” said Craig Fendrick, former FSR manager. “He was a long-time FSR supporter, a great exhibitor and the one guy we always went to for advice.”

Allan Reid, another former Ruff’s manager and son-in-law of Herbert Ruff, said, “Indeed, Herb was an innovator. When things came along where he could make a little more money than selling corn, he decided he needed something to keep him busy, and that’s when he entered the seed farm business. He saw there was a future for hybridized corn and the increased income he could get from raising seed. He was never afraid of trying something new.”

According to Reid, who was manager at Ruff’s for 30 years, the advantage that Ruff’s had over other seed companies is that they actually farmed and raised the majority of the seed on their own farm. For this reason, he said, they had better control over it rather than contracting it out to other growers.

Reid said Ruff was on the ground floor with private label soybeans in the early 1960s. Ruff’s was one of the first companies to do Maize Dwarf Mosaic research on corn. Ruff, Reid said, was one of the first eight-row planters after he hooked two four-row planters together.

“He was always trying something new,” Reid said.

Ruff’s has been a leader in the seed business but has changed with the times as well. Those at Ruff’s spotted monitors on planters for the first time at FSR and knew that they would really change things in their business. The development of double-cross genetics, insect resistance and Roundup changed things for the company, in addition to their acquired licensing by Monsanto. Many more changes came to Ruff’s by the 1990s, but the company ownership has always stayed in the family.

The farm grew from 110 acres to 1,600 acres by 2011.

“Herb Ruff was very innovative, indeed, and he dealt with more than just seed,” said current Ruff’s manager Tom Pontius. “At one time he was big into potatoes and even had a lot of Hereford cattle on the premise.

“Ruff’s isn’t into research and development as much as we used to be. We have test plots but any more there’s plant breeders that we deal with. We rely on them to tell us what works in our area. From this we come with our genetic lineup.”

Ruff’s will likely continue their long tradition of setting up a booth at the intersection of Wheat Street and Friday Avenue, as the company is seeing its second- and third-generation of owners come up through the ranks.

“We’ve been at Farm Science Review for 60 straight years and we will continue to go because it gives us a place to see all our customers again, and it’s also a good place to pick up new customers as well,” Pontius said.

Part of Ruff’s exhibit has even traveled through those 60 years with the company. The counter that is included in their current display area today, where they have key conversations with attendees, is the original one used in 1963.

Herb Ruff was more than just a seed company executive. He spent his life giving to Farm Science Review through exhibits, materials for Ohio State research and in an advisory capacity. Ruff never sought attention and didn’t need to. Others took notice of his great deeds and in 2006 he was inducted into the FSR Hall of Fame.

Key FSR individuals were also inducted into the FSR Hall of Fame that same year. One was Doris Utzinger, a loyal supporter of OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science of FSR’s Utzinger Garden, named in memory of her late husband Jim Utzinger.

Jim Utzinger was elected to the FSR Hall of Fame in 1996, as was Molly Caren, for whom the Molly Caren Agricultural Center is named.