Yankalilla Seeds was founded by the late Colin Symonds in 1962 and is still a family run business today under the direction of his sons David and Peter Symonds, who took over from their father in the early 2000’s.
Colin (or CR as he was affectionately known to family & friends) started the Seed Sales business in the backyard shed of their family home, a farming property in Wattle Flat, Yankalilla, South Australia. Back then, the average sales per annum consisted of approximately 6 tonne of pasture & cereal, with Colin as the only staff member. With the aid of his sons, the business grew to encompass not just the sales of pasture & cereals, but to the manufacture & production of the seed as well.
New sheds were built and a cleaning plant installed in the 1980’s, with expansions to the existing shed and a second, larger shed with a second cleaning plant added in the 1990’s. As demand grew, production requirements grew with it. During this time a mixing/blending plant was added too, which enabled the company to blend their own pasture mixes and to also diversify into the production of birdseed blends as well.
From the 1960’s to today, production has grown from the 6 tonne per annum to in excess of 4000 tonne per annum, for both local and export markets. There are approximately 50 silos for incoming storage and around 3000 square metres of warehouse with a capacity to store over 2000 pallets.
After further diversification in 2011, with the introduction of our “Nature’s Harvest” Branch in Wingfield, the seed division is now under the management of Jarrad Symonds, third generation and son of Peter, with David managing the Nature’s Harvest Branch.
Yankalilla Seeds is family owned and operated, and has been for over 50 years. We take pride in that fact and the values withheld back in the 1960’s by CR are still withheld and adhered to today.
