Considered by many to be one of the most important farming individuals in Western Canadian history, Wheeler was a notable farm implement inventor and developer of grain seed and horticultural varieties. Few people will forget his prowess as a prize-winner of local and international competitions. A hard-working and extremely intelligent figure, he demonstrated the importance of visionaries such as himself during a time when farm research and theory was mostly conducted by government agencies and universities.
Wheeler was born in England in 1868. Following in the footsteps of so many European farmers of the time, Wheeler’s family emigrated to the vast and newly opened Canadian West in 1884. After working for five years at various jobs in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, he obtained a homestead of his own in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. Despite never getting a formal education, Wheeler self-taught himself in the principles of dry-land farming and soon became an expert, developing his own innovative theories and ideas.
Wheeler was accepted into the Seed Growers’ Association of Canada in 1910, an organization he worked with closely throughout his life. In 1911 he burst onto the international stage by winning the World Championship in wheat production at New York, and in the following seven years he won no less than four more international titles in Denver, El Paso, Kansas City, and Denver, setting a record that still stands today.
One of his most proficient areas of work was in the development of new seed varieties in both grain and horticulture. He developed several new strains of wheat- Marquis 10B, Red Bobs, Kitchener, Victory Oats, Canadian Thorpe, and O.A.C. No.21 Barley- and five new horticultural species- the Siberian Silver Leaf Willow, the Saskatchewan Crab Apple, the Prolific and Cherry-plum hybrids, and the Advance Sand Cherry. These new species were essential in the development of the agricultural economy of the prairies. Seager’s own farm once boasted the largest orchard on the prairies.
As his reputation became internationally recognized, Wheeler took to writing and teaching in order to better facilitate his research and findings. He published numerous articles for local newspapers, eventually compiling a book, Seager Wheeler’s Book on Profitable Grain Growing, which was published in 1919 and quickly became a best-seller, effectively spreading his knowledge of progressive farming and scientific agricultural techniques to a wide audience.
His farming prowess was so renowned that he earned the nicknames “The Wheat Wizard of Rosthern” and the “The Wheat King of the Prairies”. In terms of his contributions to farming on the Canadian prairies, Wheeler was certainly worthy of royalty, and indeed he was recognized by King George in 1943 and made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Without his work and dedication, the Canadian prairies may never have fully reached its true potential as the breadbasket of Canada, and it may not have developed the army of experienced and informed farmers that it did. Not only was he a role model for prospective farmers, but his work and research inspired the government to see the West as a viable farming prospect and continue to develop it. His legacy is seen throughout Saskatchewan and Canada at large, and he was inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1967.