Moore’s Seeds relocates to Tillsonburg

VanMeer Farms is the new owner of Moore’s Seeds. Originally based in Norwich, Moore’s has been a family-operated company throughout its 100-plus year history and produces a variety of bird seeds. A new processing facility and retail showroom will be opening on Bell Mill Side Road. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

A century-old family seed business has found a new home in Tillsonburg.

Moore’s Seeds, which started in 1916 as Ralph Moore & Sons as a dairy and vegetable farm in Norwich, has relocated to Bell Mill Side Road on the outskirts of Tillsonburg. The company has built a reputation for producing quality bird seed.

VanMeer Farms is the new owner of Moore’s Seeds. This company was started in 1983 by George and Willy Vermeersch with one farm west of Tillsonburg. The operation continued to grow and expand, eventually purchasing the Gilvesy property across from TRW and expanding the grain elevator operation on that property.

Ralph Moore & Sons was purchased by the Wilson family in 2009 and moved from Norwich to Otterville. The Vermeersch family became aware the operation was for sale.

“VanMeer Farms was looking for a way to diversify,” said Andrea Thoonen, who operates the company with her father Greg Vermeersch and brother Colin Vermeersch.

They purchased the company last year and started construction on a new 36,000-sqauare-foot facility adjacent to their elevator on Bell Mill Side Road. The name was also changed to Moore’s Seeds.

“It fit nicely with what we were doing,” Andrea said. “We were knowledgeable in growing grains and thought it would tie in.”

“It fit into our wheelhouse of crops,” Greg added.

The new facility will house a processing line to clean, mix and package bird seed. It will also feature a large retail showroom to sell bird-related supplies such as feeders and accessories. Twelve bins adjacent to the building will hold large quantities of the most popular seeds for mixing. The company came with a diverse mix of 200 different products. These range from caged bird mixtures to pigeon and outdoor bird seed, plus accessories. Moore’s Seeds products are sold across Canada in retailers ranging from small specialty shops to Wal-Mart. The products are also shipped internationally around the world.

VanMeer Farms has been growing millet since 2023 and planning is underway to investigate which other components of bird seed can be grown local.

“There’s lot of opportunities to grow as many different crops as we can,” Colin said.

For many years, spray millet heads were cut by hand with a pair of scissors. The Wilsons developed a single-row harvester. Greg said they are adept at manufacturing their own equipment and millet harvester 2.0 is under construction. One of the issues with cutting the heads was the stems were transported to the sorting line and then had to be disposed of. The new harvester will see the millet sorted in the field and the stems left in the fields. Harvested millet is then stored in either apple bins or bulk tobacco kiln bins until ready for processing.

Other kinds of millet are harvested with a grain head on the combine.

One emphasis that will be maintained is Moore’s reputation for good, clean seed. The company will be operating with the slogan “From seed to feed” as it promotes its lines. The Vermeerschs are exploring the possibility of adding to the company’s product lines with the closing of Peavey Mart.

Greg said one of the goals is to create a destination people will travel to for purchasing seed and supplies. The company currently has seven employees, with hopes to add more.

The retail store is scheduled to open in early April and a grand opening will follow.