STONEVILLE® IN THE 1990s: WHERE NO ONE HAD GONE BEFORE

For Thomas “Bud” Hughes, his time at Stoneville in the late 1980s to early 2000s could probably best be described as like a science-fiction TV show. “It was a pretty revolutionary time in Stoneville’s history,” said Hughes, who joined Stoneville as director of operations and served as president and CEO from 1992 to 2002. “We were really trying to take a historic company with great roots and modernize it. We started investing in R&D in a way we had never done before. It was almost like a chapter out of ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.’”

But the futuristic concepts and advanced science/technology being developed through Stoneville weren’t fiction – they were reality. That reality included the introduction of the world’s first commercialized biotech cottonseed (BXN) in 1995, and the eventual transition to a 100% biotech product line by the time Hughes left the company. “Our scientists in the lab and the field were accelerating and leveraging the improvement of strong germplasm developed over decades of good plant breeding, while also incorporating the promise of biotech with traits that were simply unimaginable before,” Hughes said. “Cotton varieties that would withstand herbicides and worm infestations on their own were a real marvel and a revolutionary change to cotton farmers.”

“Melding all of this history and future together was no small feat as our plant breeders, molecular biologists and biochemists all spoke different languages (not to mention the production and sales teams), but they all learned how to communicate and were eventually one another’s biggest fans,” Hughes said. In addition, during Hughes’ tenure Stoneville acquired six different companies and breeding programs that became part of Stoneville, helping accelerate its product development. That product development served as both an opportunity and challenge for the evolving company.

“AT STONEVILLE, WE HAD PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY PROUD OF WHAT WE DID AND WERE DEDICATED AND LOYAL TO OUR PRODUCTS AND OUR INDUSTRY. THAT’S WHAT I’M MOST PROUD OF.” – BUD HUGHES

 

Another challenge the company faced was realizing that while it had great people, its bench wasn’t quite deep enough. That spurred Hughes to request to move the company’s headquarters from Stoneville, Mississippi, to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1997 to help attract more talent. Hughes credits that talent with helping to define Stoneville’s culture and ultimately his legacy. “I’ve had the unique experience of working for startups, publicly traded companies and private equity firms, and I’ve really come to believe that culture matters,” Hughes said. “At Stoneville, we had people who were really proud of what we did and were dedicated and loyal to our products and our industry. That’s what I’m most proud of.” Today, Hughes works in mergers and acquisitions in the crop industry as part of AgriCatalyst LLC. But he remains a lifelong fan of Stoneville and his time there. “I feel like Stoneville has been good for the industry,” Hughes said. “It’s as integral to the U.S. cotton industry as apple pie and baseball. The contributions have been tremendous before, during and after my time.”