S&W Seed Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Don Panter as executive vice president, Americas and promotion of David Callachor to executive vice president, International. The expansion and reorganization follows S&W’s recent acquisition of key sorghum assets that now positions S&W as a leading middle-market agricultural company with leadership positions in multiple key crops.
Panter will oversee operations including sales and marketing, research and development and supply chain for the integrated alfalfa, sorghum, sunflower and stevia operations within the Americas. Panter has more than 20 years’ experience as an agribusiness executive, with time spent in both start-up and turn-around business situations and expertise in such areas as product/project development, global business, strategic planning and technology evaluation. Panter has held senior leadership positions at several seed and biotechnology companies including Stoneville Pedigreed Seed, Emergent Genetics, Harris Moran Seed Company and Mendel BioEnergy Seeds. Most recently, Panter was President and CEO of American DairyCo, a private equity-held, U.S.-based commercial dairy company consisting of about 10,000 dairy cows and agricultural operations across 5,000 acres in Florida and Georgia. Panter holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Callachor joined S&W in January 2018 to expand the Company’s hybrid focus and will now oversee all international operations, including sales and marketing, production and research and development. Callachor is a senior agribusiness executive with over 20 years of experience in the agriculture industry, including extensive international experience in hybrid seeds, traits and new technologies. Callachor has worked with several global seed companies including Advanta Seeds and, most recently, Limagrain as Group Sales Manager for South East Asia. He also has worked with Landmark, an Agrium Company, for several years in Australia.
Mark Wong, CEO of S&W Seed Company, comments, “Our recent sorghum acquisition transforms S&W into a multi-crop agricultural company, allowing us to sell multiple crops to the same end customers. To recognize these benefits, we felt it was important to reorganize our operations along geographic lines, instead of functional lines, to help realize the numerous cross-selling synergies available to us. Don Panter is a highly successful agricultural executive whom I have worked with in the past and have great respect for his ability to execute on the task ahead. David Callachorlikewise has a strong background in developing integrated, multi-crop strategies in numerous parts of the world. This is an exciting time for S&W and I look forward to the contributions I know Don and David will bring.”
