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. 4 of its current employees and ten of the almost 40 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 seed producers around our bioregion to steward a selection of almost 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. Our entire inventory is available through our online store, including exclusive varieties! 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

Angus Hughes

Board 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.

Mary K Johnson

Board Secretary

Mary K serves as the Marketing Manager, Community Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Co-op. A rampant note-taker she is honored to serve the BOD in this capacity as Secretary. She is a self-stated pandemic-era gardener, inspired by the Victory Gardens of earlier generations. She resonates with gardeners who love learning to grow their own food! Food systems and community-building potentials that abound around healthy food continue to inspire her!
She feels that what we do as a seed cooperative is important at this time and for generations to come.

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.

Casey O'Leary

Board Member At Large

As the co-founder of SRSC, Casey has been intimately involved in the organization since its inception, working arm-in-arm with other seed freaks to grow it from a tiny seed to the flourishing bioregional resource it is today. Cooperative management has always been a core philosophy of the business, but it took over 7 years to actually make the transition to a legal cooperative. Casey proudly participated on the cooperative transition committee, and is now grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors. She enjoys edu-taining folks about the wonders of the natural world, and the wonders of seeds specifically. And she really, really loves growing lovage.

David Lau

Board Member At Large

David was welcomed into his role with the Board of Directors in the fall of 2023. His contribution of seed-grower insight and experience continues to influence our Co-op in adaptive and reflective ways. A vegetable farmer of 10+ years, located in the mountainous region of Missoula, Montana, David contributes perspective from a high-altitude, short-season vantage point and collaborated with us to develop the Planting Guides for the Five Valleys Region in Western Montana, ZONES 3B-5B. He is perpetually drawn towards the rich stories and traditions associated with seed work.
"Titbout's Seeds is the latest chapter in my farming journey. Nestled in the corner of an established vegetable farm in Missoula my small plot allows me to explore the process of growing seeds and contribute in some way towards developing regional seed sources. I am eager to discover where this path may lead and learn from the wisdom of more experienced seed practitioners."