Condor Seed Production originated on a 10 acre parcel of land about 5 miles south of Yuma, Arizona. Tom Tolman started by growing short day onions in 1985; artichokes and coriander were also among the early crops. As time went on brassicas and mustards, basil, okra and other vegetable crops were added. The company now produces many herbs, flowers, baby leaf vegetables and other specialty items for the wholesale seed market. Most of the company’s products are open pollinated vegetables, though they also produce hybrids on a contract basis. Some things have not changed from the early days, however. Onions such as Red Creole and Texas Grano, and artichokes, are still paramount.

Artichoke seeds were  one of the first products offered by Condor Seed Production.

When Tolman retired in 2018, Tom Prata took the helm. Formerly the Sales Manager for the company, Prata manages the operation remotely from Florida. With an office staff of just six people, Prata’s staff covers a lot of ground, with Prata traveling to Yuma frequently, and beyond. “I’ve been in agriculture for my entire career,” he says. After graduating from Colorado State University with a degree in Agronomy he did a two-year stint in the Peace Corp working on Research Agronomy. Following that, he earned an MBA from Miami University and then worked in the seed industry for three decades. A second project in the Peace Corp—this one in Guatemala—followed, after which he found his way to Condor Seed Production where he happily remains. “I love the people in this business,” he explains. “We start off as colleagues and soon become friends. Seeds are a fundamental industry to farmers, and every year in the business brings new challenges.”

Condor has grown over the years, from a local operation with production fields in the desert southwest and in Treasure Valley, Idaho to a company that sells seed to seventy plus countries around the world. In 2013 Tom Tolman sold the company to Suba Seeds, an Italian operation. Four years later, Suba was rebranded as Verisem, which describes itself as one of the only truly global specialty vegetable seed producers.

“We have always been profitable, and remain so,” says Tom Prata. “We still focus largely on open pollinated varieties, and produce lots of heirlooms, but we’ve been getting involved in the baby leaf segment and vertical gardening. We have production contracts from around the world, and produce large quantities of our main crops for spot sales.”

On a recent trip to Peru, Prata visited clients who process artichokes, and inspected a pepper seed pilot program.

Prata moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida after the upheaval of the pandemic years. Though he misses the grandeur of the west he says, “I love ‘old Florida’ vibe—the mangroves and the coastal towns. And we’re right on the water.” He traded in his motorcycle for a pontoon boat, where he and his wife Alba and their grandchildren spend time together. Though he had to give up his gig as a judo instructor at the Yuma Territorial Judo Club, Sensei Tom still practices the art. He also still teaches, albeit remotely, an Ag Business Simulation course at the University of Arizona. Well-traveled, family centered, and fully immersed in a business that he loves, Tom Prata has found his niche in the world.