Mike Peterson likes beans. His grandfather, E.K. Peterson was in the seed business in Minneapolis in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, and his father and several uncles joined that business and helped it grow. A soybean division of this company—Peterson Seed—was established in 1960 in Waterloo, Iowa. Mike’s father Larry was the president of this division, and the company eventually was sold to Pioneer Hi-Bred in 1973. Larry Peterson founded Peterson Genetics in 1976, and Mike joined the company in 1984. He purchased the business in 1987, and has been President of the firm since then.
A graduate of Iowa State University with a B.S. in Agricultural Business, Mike has been providing superior soybean genetics to seed companies for over 20 years. In addition, he is a past President of the Iowa Seed Association, past Chair of the Soybean Division of the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), and is currently the 1
st Vice-Chair of the ASTA. He will become Chairman of the ASTA in mid-June of 2007.
The father of 5 children (including triplet 10-year olds!), Mike is busy with kids’ activities, and also enjoys outdoor sports and running (having completed 11 marathons). His favorite hobby, however, is spending time in soybean plots and customer fields, because Mike likes beans!
