Employee & Producer-Owned Cooperative Since January 2022

Employee and Grower-Owned in the Intermountain West

Snake River Seed Cooperative has been in operation since 2014. At the end of 2021, the business transitioned from a single-member LLC owned by Casey O’Leary to a multi-stakeholder cooperative. Its current employees and ten of the 54 seed producers have become invested member-owners of the cooperative. We anticipate grower ownership will increase yearly, we are only able to include 10 per year based on securities law in Idaho.

Snake River Seed Cooperative occupies an important niche as one of the most successful bioregional seed companies in the Intermountain West. We work with over 50 seed producers in our bioregion to steward a selection of over 400 varieties of vegetable, fruit, flower, and herb seeds, including several dozen Intermountain West native plants. We package these seeds into seed packets and sell them in regional independent garden centers and natural food stores, as well as through our online store.

Our passionate and expanding customer base seeks out our seeds because of our commitment to selling 100% open-pollinated, untreated, and un-patented seeds, grown by their own regional farmers, committed to following organic practices in their fields.

Among the things we are most excited about in our cooperative transition are a sliding scale buy-in where member-owners can choose the amount they can pay to buy in and become equal owners, and the ability to work with our existing and owner growers. This model of collective ownership of a business such as ours where both workers and producers are equal owners is unique in our region. We are excited to be creating a road map that other businesses may be able to follow to lead to more equitable and empowering models of doing business in the 21st century.

Board of Directors

Mike Sommer

Board President

Mike Sommer has been managing his family's certified organic farm in Middleton, Idaho since 2011. They have been growing organic fresh and dried herbs, greens, and specialty vegetables since 1989 and sell to local grocery stores, restaurants, produce distributors and at the Boise Farmers Market. Mike served on the board of a farmers cooperative for 5 years and served on the initial board of the Boise Farmers Market for 7 years, 2 of those as president. Mike started growing seeds for SRSC at Purple Sage Farms in 2017 and joined the SRSC board in December 2022. Mike spends most of his day working the earth, tending and watering plants, and teaching employees how to work with the crops at the farm. The rest of his days are spent having fun and eating good food with his wife, Jacke, and daughter Evelyn, and any other family or friends that want to join.

Angus Hughes

Board Vice President

Angus Hughes is an Idaho mountain man, gardener, and forager. He has volunteered on several non-profit boards and likes the non-violent communication style. He believes that good leadership starts with good listening skills, and is rooted in commonly held values. He is excited and grateful to work with the awesome SRSC as a seed grower, coop member, and board member.

Ana Sigler

Board Treasurer

Ana is currently the Bookkeeper/Grants Manager and a fellow grower (Plum Shed Seeds) for SRSC. As a lover of number-crunching, spreadsheets, organization and quietly working behind the scenes, Ana is honored to be taking on the role of Treasurer of the Board. She has been working with budgets, data, and numbers in general for many years now even though her background is technically in Conservation Biology. She cannot wait to help carry the Cooperative through many financial reports and cash flow projections to come.

Reiley Carney

Board Secretary

Reiley's first seed memory is separating red clover seeds from the chaff as a very young child on a plate in her grandparents' kitchen. As a young adult, she began gardening and completed the internship program at Earthly Delights Farm in 2015. She started working with Snake River Seed Co-op in 2016 as a seed packer and has continued to take on more roles throughout the years. She farmed seed crops in Boise under the name Flowers with Rye from 2017 to 2020. She is now the Finance Manager and Board Secretary at Snake River Seed Co-op.

Kelly Kingsland

Board Member At Large

Kelly Kingsland has been growing vegetables for market in Moscow Idaho since 2001, and seeds for the Snake River Seed Coop since 2017. She is thrilled to get to serve on the first-ever Board of Directors of the Snake River Seed Co-op and sees it as an honor to work with the stellar individuals who comprise the staff and BoD. Kelly has lived in Idaho for 51 years and welcomes the opportunity to expand the conscious intention that is growing food for her local community, outward to helping to steer the Coop in its mission to engage in regional economic models that embrace environmental ethics, seed sovereignty, and economic and racial justice.

Jessica McAleese

Board Member At Large

Jessica and her partner, Jeremy Shreve own and operate Swift River Farm, a small organic vegetable and seed farm in the heart of Salmon, Idaho. In between growing veggies, mentoring new and beginning farmers, geeking out about birds and pollinators, and spending time on community projects, Jessica enjoys anything and everything outside, especially if it involves exploring mountains, rivers, and other wild places.