George L Jacques

George L. Jacques, former CEO of Jacques Seed Company in Prescott who later started George’s Seed Outlets, died at age 90. In 1985, Jacques disassociated with the company his dad founded and began his own seed corn enterprise. After three years of court-ordered silence, he was ready to operate George’s Seed Outlets. The Jacques Seed Company, which George Jacques built into a major U.S. multi-seed research, development and marketing firm, was begun by his father, William. In 1929, the firm was supplying 75 percent of the seed corn planted in Wisconsin. Jacques introduced his first hybrid seed corn in 1931. He began chemically treating seed corn in 1935, one of the first processors to do so. By 1945, he was outsold by newer companies in the hybrid seed corn market. The Jacques brothers, including George, returned from military service, attended college, then joined the company. In 1966, William died and George became president of the company after having started working there in 1948. Nine years later, he and his brother Charles sold Jacques Seed to Rorer-AmChem. Charles retired and George stayed on as president until 1985 through a succession of owners, such as Union Carbide in 1977, Agrigenetics Corporation in 1980 and the Lubrizol Corporation in 1985. Mycogen Plant Sciences later took over.