THREET HAS BEEN GOOD FOR STONEVILLE – AND VICE VERSA

Longtime employee has held 10 titles for seed brand, including Vice President of U.S. Business

If Don Threet played baseball, he would be what’s called a “utility player.” In other words, Threet would play most all positions because of his ability to do so. Playing several roles – and important ones, at that – is something Threet has done in his 32-year career with the Stoneville^® brand. His current title is Cotton Operations Manager for BASF, which acquired Stoneville in 2018. Threet was hired as an agronomist in 1990 by Stoneville’s George Ray Walker Jr., the grandson of Stoneville founder George B. Walker. During his tenure, which has included six owners of the Stoneville brand, Threet has also held the positions of Territory Sales Manager, Midsouth Region Manager, U.S. Marketing Manager, U.S. Sales Manager, U.S. Cotton Operations Manager, Vice President of the U.S. Business, Cotton Key Account Manager and Eastern Region Seed Manager. It has been a great ride thus far.

“I have done just about every job that you can do for a cottonseed brand,” Threet said. When he was hired, Threet said it was not lost upon him that he was joining a “special” company. “Stoneville has been good to me and my family,” he added. “I’ve had to work every day, but I don’t feel like I have worked a day in my life.” Threet recalled his first territory as a sales manager in the early 1990s in central Louisiana, where he would travel every other week from his home in Leland, Mississippi. Threet spent most of the week there in cotton fields with growers, trying to help them solve solutions while growing the Stoneville brand. In his various roles as a sales manager, Threet said he embraced each opportunity with a personal responsibility. “I always felt like I should treat each opportunity like it was my own franchise,” he said. “Stoneville loaned me money to operate and in turn I needed to sell and grow share as quickly as I possibly could. And I did.”

“PEOPLE TRUST THE STONEVILLE COTTON BRAND FOR DOING WHAT WE SAY IT WILL DO.” – DON THREET

 

Threet, who we already know can play many positions, is also a team player. He credits many mentors for teaching him about cotton at Stoneville. “I’ve had several great bosses over the years who empowered me to take care of business the best I knew how,” Threet said. One of those was Thomas “Bud” Hughes, who served as Stoneville’s president and CEO from 1992 to 2002. Under Hughes, Stoneville invested in research and development like it had never done before. “I owe my career to Bud Hughes for pushing me the way that he did,” Threet stated. Threet is thankful to have been part of several “industry firsts” under Stoneville, including the marketing of the first genetically modified cotton variety called the BXN System and the change to seed count packaging. He said he’s “excited” about the current state of the cotton industry. While cotton has lost value since the end of April, it’s still selling well above $1 per pound.

“Only once before in my life have I seen cotton sell for over $1,” Threet said. “I think the next few years are going to be good for the cotton industry.” He also expects cotton to continue to be grown on between 11 million and 13 million acres in the U.S. “It is grown in the South, where growers have the choice of growing cotton, soybeans, corn, rice, wheat, peanuts and sweet potatoes,” Threet said. “While the cropping mix can change in the South every year, cotton is a pillar of that mixture.” In his role as cotton operations manager, Threet is heavily involved with sales, marketing and the company’s crop plan. “The most important document to a seed company besides a profit and loss statement is its crop plan,” he said. “If you do your crop plan well, you’re ensuring that you’ll have a successful year.” Threet is not surprised that Stoneville cotton has had many successful years and is still going strong after a century. “People trust the Stoneville cotton brand for doing what we say it will do,” he said.