Marc started Melton Seed & Service in 2008.  Since then, he has been dedicated to selling the top seed and offering his growers top-notch service.  Marc firmly believes that, as a seed representative, he is not only responsible for selling farmers seed, but also providing them the support required to maximize the performance of that seed.

Marc has a long history in agriculture.  He started his career at FS in Lyndon, where he worked as a commercial applicator for spraying and fertilizer application.  Marc left FS in 1982 to start raising corn and soybeans on the farm where he lived in Tampico.  Since then, his farming operation has grown from a few acres to  1,450 acres.  Over that time, he has grown corn, soybeans, seed corn, seed beans, and wheat.  He has witnessed significant advancements and changes in agriculture, including the development of genetically modified seed, precision agricultural technology, herbicide resistance weeds, new crop diseases, etc.  While learning how to manage both the challenges and opportunities created by the changes in farming over almost forty years, Marc has developed significant knowledge of agronomy.  He has used this knowledge on his own farm to earn himself an “Outstanding Grower Award” from Pioneer for the highest producing seed field in 2008 and third place in Illinois’ non-irrigated category for the National Corn Growers Competition in 2013.  As a Channel Seedsman, Marc shares his agronomy knowledge with local farmers to help them maximize their yields, year after year.

James joined Melton Seed & Service in 2015.  He assists Marc in all aspects of running the agency.  His specialties are precision agriculture and agricultural data management.  James was trained in statistics and research design while earning his PhD at the University of Illinois (2009) and taught these subjects to graduate students in Europe for six years before returning home to work in agriculture.  This experience gives James a unique understanding of how to utilize the data collected by precision agricultural equipment to optimize macro-level decision-making.

James also has training in biology and chemistry.  He took several courses on these topics while he received his Bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University (2003).  In addition to his coursework, James received hands-on training on these topics as a teacher’s assistant for inorganic and organic chemistry and as an assistant researcher in a genetics research laboratory.  James’ training in the natural sciences has provided a foundation for developing a deep understanding of agronomy.

Linh joined Melton Seed & Service in 2016.  As office manager, she is responsible for tracking our seed inventory, organizing events, managing our social media and web profile, and helping with a variety of other day-to-day tasks.  Before joining our agency, Linh received a Bachelor’s degree (2004) and two Master’s degrees (2008) from the University of Illinois.