A bold idea in Oregon’s Willamette Valley has now become a multigenerational enterprise built on precision and trust.
The Setniker family (from left to right) Cole Setniker, Michelle Setniker, Eric Setniker,
Makenna McKay, Michael McKay, Kord Setniker. Images courtesy of Universal Seed LLC
Universal Seed LLC, a third-party seed production company, continues to expand its global reach in vegetable seed production while staying rooted in the family values and integrity that have defined the company since 1989. What began with founder Nick Tichinin has grown into a multigenerational business known for precision, reliability, and strong international partnerships.
Nick Tichinin grew up surrounded by agriculture. After studying at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and working for Sunseeds, he began traveling the world managing international seed production.
Every visit to Oregon left a lasting impression. “I would come here a few times a year,” Tichinin said. “Every time I came here, I looked around and thought there’s a lot of untapped potential here.” By 1989, he decided to take the leap. “I just kind of jumped off the ledge and started Universal Seed as a contract seed production company,” he said. “And that’s all she wrote.”
From the beginning, the company’s success was rooted in relationships. “It was the Japanese market that we tapped into that really set Universal Seed on the course it’s on,” Tichinin said. “The majority of the Japanese customers that we have today are the very same customers that started out year one.”
In 2020, Universal Seed Company became Universal Seed LLC, marking the beginning of a transition to new family leadership. Today Eric Setniker serves as president and chief executive officer, leading alongside his son Cole Setniker, who oversees Universal Coating Systems and daughter Makenna, the customer relations manager.
While the company continues to serve the global vegetable seed industry, its heart remains close to home with production network spans Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Washington’s Skagit Valley producing hybrid spinach, hybrid Swiss chard and red radish, cabbage, bunching onion and long day bulb onion along with pumpkin, squash and ornamental sunflowers.
In northern Washington, production centers on spinach, hybrid chard, daikon radish, and cabbage, serving international customers. “We can’t produce red radish up there because of the season,” Eric explains. “But we do daikon radish for the Japanese market.”
Precision, Efficiency & Quality
Maintaining purity and disease control requires precise crop rotation and isolation distances. “You must look at what variety it is, how far it needs to be isolated, and how long it’s been since that field was last planted. In spinach, rotation is basically ten years. If you turn around two years later and grow spinach again, you’re probably going to lose your crop.” Tichinin goes on to say that long-term planning is vital. “The seed persists in the soil. It’s really a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.”
The main operations are based in Independence, Oregon, where the company has invested heavily in modern processing, storage, and packaging infrastructure. The original office and cleaning facility were purchased in 1995. In 2014, the company completed construction on its current campus, IndePark and includes an office and four buildings dedicated to seed processing, treating, and logistics. A receiving building was added in 2017, and a major expansion in 2024 brought all packaging and treating operations back on-site.
“We made the decision to start moving all of our packaging and treating operations back down the road,” Eric explains. “That way we’re not constantly trucking seed back and forth between campuses.”
The site includes multiple cleaning lines, including two large-scale systems and a smaller, high-precision line used for specialty crops such as cabbage and other brassicas. The facility operates around the clock during peak season. “This time of year, we run 24 hours a day, six days a week,” he confirms. “We’ll do that until Thanksgiving, and then we start tapering off.”
The company’s newest treatment and packing lines reflect its focus on automation and efficiency. The treating line can process about 4,000 kilograms of seed per eight hours, while the packing line handles 20,000 kilograms in the same timeframe. “Our receiving station was built to allow us to receive seed faster because we had outgrown what we were doing in the past. It also lets us pre-clean the seed, which reduces the need for storage space and helps us move faster when we start full cleaning.”
A certified disinfection line adds another 6,000 kilograms per 24 hours of capacity. The CleanStart disinfection process, used for beet, chard, and coriander seed, was developed to remove bacterial contamination such as Pseudomonas. The CleanShield organic treatment targets Pythium, helping spinach crops establish clean, strong stands. “Our disinfection process was really developed for the organic baby leaf market,” Eric shares. “People don’t want black spots on their leaves. What happens in the field I can’t control, but we can at least give you clean seed.”
Universal Seed’s facilities include more than 40,000 square feet of storage and several standalone processing systems, including color sorters, gravity tables, and drum sizers for specialized upgrading. “It’s all about keeping the mills running,” Eric emphasizes. “We don’t want to shut a machine down just to do an upgrade. Everything is designed to maximize efficiency.”
Because Universal Seed LLC contracts production for many major vegetable seed companies, confidentiality is critical. “We always say we have to be Switzerland,” Eric emphasizes. “We know the varieties, the parent lines, and the customers. It’s about maintaining trust with everyone we work with.”
That trust is reinforced by communication throughout the season. The company’s advanced tracking uses ABS software, developed in the Netherlands, which manages production and inventory data for each customer. Customers receive regular crop reports throughout the growing season, with updates on development, estimated yields, and field challenges. “Most of our customers we’re in constant communication with,” says Makenna. “Some I talk to every week, some a few times a season, but we’re always sharing updates.”
Testing & Laboratory Capabilities
Another unique aspect of the company is the in-house AOSA-certified seed laboratory, directed by Quinn Gillespie, RST, quality manager and president of the Society of Commercial Seed Technologists (SCST). The lab serves as both the company’s quality assurance hub and its early warning system, ensuring that no issue goes unseen before seed leaves the facility.
“On my first day at Universal Seed I told owner Nick Tichinin and company president Eric Setniker, ‘If anyone is going to ruin your day, it’s going to be me,’” Gillespie said. “Which is largely the function of any seed lab to ruin someone’s day now in order to prevent a much worse situation down the line.”
The lab’s scope extends far beyond standard testing. It oversees mill checks on seed in-process and final sampling from lots, issues seed count and estimated clean-weight reports, performs final purity analysis and germination testing, and conducts phytosanitary visual inspections for shipments going overseas. “Of those, only seed counts, purity, and germination testing are typically conducted at a service lab,” Gillespie says. “So, we’re something of a Swiss Army knife with many different hats within Universal Seed.”
Universal Coating Systems Engineering Custom Solutions
Located within IndePark, Universal Coating Systems designs and manufactures complete treating and coating solutions for seed facilities around the world. Established in 2006 and currently led by Cole Setniker, the company combines engineering precision with practical field knowledge to deliver custom-built systems that improve efficiency, accuracy, and throughput.
“We specialize in rotary treating and coating equipment,” Cole says. “Every system we build is custom. No two are the same.”
Universal Coating Systems provides full plant design services, working with customers to create complete facility layouts and specifying every component required for installation. The company coordinates with local contractors during construction and returns for on-site commissioning and operator training to ensure every system performs to specification. “Our goal is to make sure the equipment works exactly the way the customer needs it to,” Setniker said. “We’ll come in, design the layout, help install, and train their operators. It’s about building long-term confidence in the system.”
The company’s UniCoat line includes production-scale rotary treating and coating systems—ranging from 12 to 48 inches. Each system incorporates the latest electronic component technology for precise control and reliable performance. The company also offers LIW (Loss in Weight) dispensing of powders and liquids for greater automation and consistent application. “LIW provides a new level of accuracy and efficiency,” Cole confirms. “It lets customers add all materials to the coating system by weight, which improves consistency and reduces waste.”
Universal Coating Systems also supplies all ancillary equipment needed for modern seed treatment operations, including fluid bed dryers, dust collection systems, screeners, elevators, conveyors, and bagging and closing systems. These integrated capabilities allow the company to design, install, and support turnkey facilities or upgrade existing plants with minimal downtime. “We work with certified dealers for components like dryers and dust collectors,” Cole confirms. “There’s no point in reinventing something that’s already done well. We focus on how all the pieces fit and perform together.”
Each project begins with a detailed 3D design modeled in SolidWorks software, allowing customers to visualize every stage of their plant before construction begins. “You can almost walk through the facility on a computer screen,” he shares. “We use SolidWorks to make sure everything lines up exactly the way it should.”
In addition to equipment design and installation, Universal Coating Systems develops and sells a full line of treating and coating polymers and additives formulated to complement its UniCoat systems. Marketed under the UNICOAT brand, these polymers are available in conventional and organic formulations and a variety of standard or custom colors.
The company also produces a range of additives designed to enhance seed flowability, moisture absorption, and overall appearance. “We’re unique in that we can match a color or a finish exactly how the customer wants it,” confirms Cole. “Everything we do is built around their product and their process.”
A Legacy Moving Forward
The Setniker family continues to build Universal Seed and Universal Coating Systems around the same principles that guided Nick Tichinin from the start, consistency, precision, and relationships that last.
When asked about the company’s longevity, Eric says, “Our success has always come from working with people who trust us. We know how important it is to deliver what they need, when they need it.”
“It’s exciting to see the next generation take it forward,” Tichinin adds. “You build something, and then you let them make it their own.”
Visit Universal Coating Systems' Youtube to watch the process.