Nutrien said in a statement it named Ken Seitz, the head of its potash business, as interim chief executive after Mayo Schmidt stepped down as CEO. The company gave no reason for Schmidt’s departure and spokesperson Megan Fielding said there are “legal constraints” on what Nutrien can say about it.

Fielding said the leadership change will not affect Nutrien’s strategy.

“It’s mighty perplexing to me,” said Brian Madden, senior vice-president at Goodreid Investment Counsel, a Nutrien shareholder. “Feels like lightning striking twice in the same place to see two peculiar, abrupt transitions within a year.”

Soaring prices of potash fertilizer, due to rising demand and supply problems for Nutrien competitors, have put a charge into the company’s profits. Its third-quarter net income was the highest for that period in the company’s four-year history, since forming from Agrium’s acquisition of PotashCorp.

Under Schmidt and Seitz, Nutrien boosted potash sales and was examining restarting idled mine capacity to raise production further to capitalize on high prices.

Nutrien’s U.S.-listed shares dropped 3.8 per cent. The change raised investor questions about senior leadership dysfunction and strategy at the company, said Scotiabank analyst Ben Isaacson.

Nutrien’s board is chaired by Russ Girling, a former CEO at pipeline company TC Energy, and also includes former Barrick Gold CEO Aaron Regent.

Schmidt, Nutrien’s former chairman, took the CEO job in April, replacing Chuck Magro. Schmidt, whose resume also includes stints as CEO at grain firm Viterra and Ontario power utility Hydro One, did not respond to requests for comment.

Seitz joined Nutrien as executive vice-president in charge of potash operations in 2019. He previously led Canpotex, a potash export company owned by Nutrien and Mosaic Co.

Girling, in Nutrien’s release, said the board will now “begin a global search to select a long-term leader that will take the company into its next phase, which will consider internal and external candidates.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Rithika Krishna in Bangalore and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

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Surging prices of corn, soybeans and canola have given North American farmers more incentive to spend on fertilizer, lifting crop nutrient prices too. Even so, Canada’s biggest agriculture company hired Schmidt as CEO last month to replace Chuck Magro, who resigned.

Saskatoon-based Nutrien, the biggest global fertilizer producer by capacity, has historically limited production to support potash prices rather than pursue maximum market share.

It has five million tonnes of idled annual capacity, but Nutrien likely won’t need to restart any of it this year after adverse Canadian weather delayed shipments, Schmidt said in an interview, following his first conference call with analysts since taking the top job.

“We need to be thoughtful about how we bring that production on,” he said. “If we see prices continue to rise, we should be able to deliver more, but we’re going to be sensitive to the returns that we need.”

Schmidt said he sees steady potash demand growth for the next decade.

BHP Group is expected to decide this year whether to complete its Jansen, Sask. potash mine, potentially adding stiff new competition.

Mosaic Co. may restart an idled Canadian mine in the next year or two if prices rise further, CEO Joc O’Rourke said separately.

In changing CEOs, Nutrien’s board of directors wants to see better execution of its existing strategy under a fresh set of eyes, Schmidt said, listing focus areas such as logistics and transportation.

Schmidt, who was previously Nutrien’s chairman, said the company is stronger by keeping together its wholesale fertilizer production business and its farm retail network.

Nutrien’s retail stores, which sell fertilizer, seed and chemicals to farmers, make up the largest U.S. network. Schmidt said the company plans to expand its retail operation in Brazil, which it sees as underserved.

The company expects U.S. corn and soybean plantings to exceed U.S. government estimates by two million acres each, but Schmidt said crop prices look to remain strong throughout the year.

Nutrien raised its full-year profit guidance and swung to a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the ag and mining sectors from Winnipeg.

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Saskatoon-based Nutrien said Monday its board has named its current chairman, Mayo Schmidt, as the company’s new CEO. Replacing Schmidt as Nutrien’s chair is Russ Girling, former CEO of TC Energy.

As CEO, Schmidt replaces Chuck Magro, who said Monday he’s stepping down from that post and his spot on the board of directors to pursue unspecified “new opportunities.” Nutrien said Magro will be “available” to the company until May 16 to help in the transition.

Girling described Schmidt as “a remarkable leader who is committed to our values of safety and integrity, our purpose and our strategy focussed on sustainably feeding the world.”

Kansas-born Schmidt played briefly for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in 1980 and later rose through senior management at General Mills. He came to Winnipeg in 1995 as president of ConAgra’s Canadian grain unit.

In 2000 he left an executive post at ConAgra in California for the CEO post at what was then Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Schmidt oversaw the Regina grain firm’s restructuring from near-bankruptcy, shutting most of its smaller elevators and shedding non-core businesses.

In 2007 he spearheaded SaskPool’s merger with Agricore United and remained CEO of the merged firm, Viterra, until 2012. He oversaw its sale to Swiss commodities trader Glencore — which in 2016 spun off its ag unit, now rebranded under the Viterra name.

A 2014 appointment to the CEO post for Louis Dreyfus’ commodities business didn’t pan out, and Schmidt in 2015 became CEO at Ontario power utility Hydro One. There he handled that company’s IPO before his 2018 “retirement” following the election of Doug Ford’s provincial Tory government.

Schmidt also joined the board at Agrium, chairing the Calgary fertilizer and ag input company’s merger committee for its combination with PotashCorp into Nutrien in 2018.

“The outlook for our business is exceptionally strong,” Schmidt said of Nutrien in that company’s release Monday. “I look forward to leading the continued execution of Nutrien’s strategy and driving industry-leading performance across all our lines of business.”

Schmidt said in the coming weeks he’d be “connecting with our employees, valued customers and shareholders to continue building our positive momentum and our focus on advancing sustainable solutions to feed a growing planet.”

Magro, who came to Agrium from Nova Chemicals in 2009, said Monday he’s “very proud of the strong foundation we have built at Nutrien over the last several years” and “look(s) forward to working with Mayo over the coming weeks to support a seamless transition and to my next adventure.”

With Magro’s departure, Nutrien said its board would now cut its seat count from 12 to 11, and the remaining 11 directors would all stand again for election at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting next month. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Toronto-based Hydro One on Thursday announced Mayo Schmidt as its new president and CEO effective Sept. 3, replacing Carmine Marcello.

“We believe that Mr. Schmidt is the ideal person to lead Hydro One in its new era as a publicly held company, bringing a sharpened focus on system reliability, customer service and improved growth and performance,” Hydro One board chairman David Denison said in a release.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced in April the province would “broaden ownership” of the Crown power company in a bid to “improve its long-term performance.”

Schmidt, Denison said, has an “admirable track record of leading large-scale business transformation and growth while generating value and benefits for investors, employees and customers alike.”

U.S.-born Schmidt came to the agrifood business through senior management at General Mills between 1982 and 1995, then to Canada as president of ConAgra’s Canadian grain business. He later became an executive vice-president for U.S.-based ConAgra, before joining what was then Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as its CEO in 2000.

As Regina-based SaskPool’s chief, Schmidt led its restructuring from near-bankruptcy, shutting most of its smaller grain elevators and selling off the Pool’s non-core businesses. In 2007 he spearheaded SaskPool’s merger with Agricore United — itself a merger of United Grain Growers, Manitoba Pool Elevators and Alberta Pool — and became CEO of the merged firm, Viterra.

Before leaving Viterra in late 2012, Schmidt steered the firm through its $7.5 billion sale to Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore, in which the Regina office became headquarters for Glencore’s North American ag products business.

Schmidt’s post-Viterra life included an appointment to the board of directors of Calgary-based fertilizer and ag retail giant Agrium.

He was then chosen in 2014 by Louis Dreyfus as the new CEO for the multinational firm’s grain and commodities arm, but was dropped as its choice in December without taking the helm.

Dreyfus — whose commodities arm has yet to name a permanent CEO — said its decision not to work with Schmidt followed “a more detailed analysis of the terms and conditions of their planned employment relationship.”

Schmidt, in Thursday’s release, said he believes “we can shape Hydro One into the finest energy company of its kind globally, with a strengthened culture of service and customer satisfaction along with best-in-class performance which in turn will create avenues for new growth.”

The terms of Hydro One’s move to a publicly-traded company, as laid out in April, require that its Grid Control Centre be maintained in Ontario, and that Hydro One’s headquarters and senior leadership remain located in the province.

The utility owns and operates Ontario’s 29,000-km high-voltage transmission network and a 188,000-km low-voltage distribution network.

Marcello, Hydro One’s CEO for the past three years, is to remain as an “advisor” to Schmidt and Denison for “support in the transition and the (company’s) upcoming IPO.” — AGCanada.com Network

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Schmidt — previously CEO at Viterra, Canada’s biggest grain handling firm, from 2000 to 2012 — had stepped down last month from Calgary-based Agrium’s board of directors in light of his “recently accepted role” at Dreyfus.

Schmidt had previously been on Agrium’s board since 2013, appointed during the company’s scrap with New York activist investor Jana Partners, which at the time held a stake of about six per cent of Agrium.

Schmidt had been chosen in November to become CEO of Louis Dreyfus Commodities, but the Rotterdam-based firm reversed its decision last month based on “a more detailed analysis of the terms and conditions of their planned employment relationship.”

Schmidt’s “experience and understanding of all aspects of the agricultural value chain is a tremendous asset for us,” Agrium chairman Victor Zaleschuk said in a release Monday.

Schmidt also returns to the Agrium board’s audit committee and its human resources and compensation committee, Agrium said. — AGCanada.com Network

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Offering no further details, Louis Dreyfus Commodities said Wednesday the company and the former Viterra CEO “have jointly decided not to proceed” with Schmidt taking the helm, “while retaining the highest mutual professional respect.”

Rotterdam-based Dreyfus, in a statement Wednesday, said its decision followed “a more detailed analysis of the terms and conditions of their planned employment relationship.”

The company’s search for a CEO “will resume immediately,” Dreyfus said.

The Reuters news service quoted unnamed sources Wednesday as saying Dreyfus had also considered two internal candidates to be LDC’s new CEO. Reuters named one as Gert-Jan van den Akker, LDC’s senior head of regions.

Van den Akker had come to LDC in June from Cargill’s Singapore office, where he was co-platform leader of the U.S. firm’s energy, transportation and metals group

The other candidate Reuters named was Claude Ehlinger, LDC’s chief financial officer and its interim CEO since Ciro Echesortu left the CEO post in April.

While the CEO search goes on, Ehlinger “will continue to ensure the group’s operational leadership,” LDC said Wednesday.

Schmidt had been booked to start Jan. 5, having been nominated to the post in late November. He’d stepped down earlier this month from the board of directors at fertilizer and ag retail firm Agrium, a decision the Calgary company said was made as “a result of his recently accepted role” at Dreyfus.

Terms

U.S.-born Schmidt, a former senior manager at General Mills and ConAgra, made his name in Canadian agribusiness starting in 2000 as CEO of what was then Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.

Schmidt oversaw SaskPool’s financial restructuring from near-bankruptcy and spearheaded its 2007 merger with Agricore United into Viterra, becoming the merged company’s CEO. Before leaving Viterra in late 2012, Schmidt steered it through its sale to Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore.

Terms of Schmidt’s hiring at Regina-based SaskPool in 2000, according to company filings, included a “signing bonus” of over $240,000, a “relocation bonus” of almost $73,000 and, in his first few years with the company, a “retention bonus” which would have had to be repaid to SaskPool if Schmidt quit before an agreed-upon date.

Schmidt, a ConAgra executive based in California before moving to Regina, also got “tax equalization” payments from SaskPool to cover the difference in his taxes owing as a Saskatchewan resident compared to his tax bills in California.

SaskPool at the time paid such equalization to other executives including its then-chief financial officer, Michael McCord, covering the spread in his tax bill between Saskatchewan and Nebraska.

Dreyfus has commodity merchandising and ag processing activities on every continent and is active in over 100 countries. In North America, the company bills itself as one of the continent’s top exporters of wheat, soybeans, corn and cotton.

Dreyfus has a Canadian office in Calgary and operates 10 inland terminals — four in Saskatchewan, three in Alberta, two in Manitoba and one at Dawson Creek, B.C. — plus a major canola crushing plant at Yorkton, Sask. — AGCanada.com Network

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Calgary-based Agrium, which includes wholesale fertilizer and retail seed, fertilizer and crop protection businesses, announced last Monday (Dec. 22) that Schmidt would resign from its board of directors effective that day.

Schmidt’s resignation, Agrium said, comes “as a result of his recently accepted role” at Dreyfus. [Related story]

Schmidt was named as an Agrium director in 2013, after he’d led Viterra into its sale to international commodity firm Glencore in 2012.

The Agrium appointment stemmed from a tussle between the company and New York hedge fund Jana Partners, which then controlled about six per cent of Agrium.

Jana, well known as an activist investor, had unsuccessfully sought to spin off Agrium’s retail arm. But Jana had also pressed Agrium to boost the level of industry experience on its board of directors.

Agrium chairman Victor Zaleschuk last Monday hailed Schmidt as “a respected director (who had) added valuable industry and governance insight.” –– AGCanada.com Network

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Mayo Schmidt was announced Friday as the new CEO of Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC), the “D” of the four “ABCD” companies dominating the global grain business.

Schmidt takes the reins at Rotterdam-based Dreyfus effective Jan. 5. He replaces Claude Ehlinger, who returns to his post as LDC’s chief financial officer, having filled in as interim CEO since Ciro Echesortu stepped down from the post in April.

Schmidt came to the agrifood business through senior management at General Mills between 1982 and 1995, before being hired as president of ConAgra’s Canadian grain business. He later became an executive vice-president for U.S.-based ConAgra, before joining what was then Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as its CEO in 2000.

Schmidt oversaw Regina-based SaskPool’s financial restructuring from near-bankruptcy, shutting most of its smaller grain elevators and selling off the Pool’s non-core businesses. In 2007 he spearheaded SaskPool’s merger with Agricore United — itself a merger of United Grain Growers, Manitoba Pool Elevators and Alberta Pool — into Viterra, and became its new CEO.

Before leaving Viterra in late 2012, Schmidt steered the combined company through its sale to Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore, in which the Regina office became headquarters for Glencore’s North American ag products business.

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chair of LDC’s parent firm, Louis Dreyfus Holding, on Friday hailed Schmidt’s “broad and global experience in the food industry, combined with his leadership skills, entrepreneurial attitude, strong business ethics and team-oriented mindset.”

Louis-Dreyfus also described Schmidt’s hiring as “an important step in the transition project we launched in June 2013, to further reinforce our management structure and governance model.”

Serge Schoen, LDC’s executive chairman, said the company’s board “invested significant time and resources” seeking “someone with a strong track record of success, but also an advocate for our corporate values, with the ability to act as a role model and create lasting social impact.”

Dreyfus, which has operated since 1851, has commodity merchandising and ag processing activities on every continent and is active in over 100 countries. In North America, the company bills itself as one of the continent’s top exporters of wheat, soybeans, corn and cotton.

Dreyfus maintains a Canadian office in Calgary and operates 10 inland terminals — four in Saskatchewan, three in Alberta, two in Manitoba and one at Dawson Creek, B.C. — plus a major canola crushing plant at Yorkton, Sask.

The Yorkton plant has been shut for repairs since an explosion and fire late last month in its canola meal storage and loading area. — AGCanada.com Network

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