Despite recent improvements in the company’s agriculture business and drug development prospects, Bayer shares have been weighed down by litigation related to a product it acquired through its 2018 takeover of Monsanto. Shareholders have also cited a lack of market trust in its top management.

“When it comes to CEO succession we say: the sooner the better,” Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment, one of Bayer’s 10 biggest shareholders, told Reuters.

The demand comes within days of another major German portfolio manager saying that supervisory board chairperson Norbert Winkeljohann must speed up the search for the successor to Baumann, who has led the company for nearly seven years.

Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka, was quoted in Saturday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper as saying Baumann had lost market credibility and so could no longer initiate strategic changes.

The mutual funds firm is among Bayer’s 20 largest shareholders.

“The Bayer stock is in a crisis of trust which the executive board is responsible for,” Speich told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Bayer has to take investor demands more seriously going forward. The Bayer stock is currently reacting more strongly to news from investors than to operating results. That’s a clear sign that something is wrong,” Speich added.

Union Investment’s Manns cautioned that the non-executive supervisory board may need time to find a qualified candidate.

“I’m sure the board is aware of the urgency of this personnel issue,” said Manns.

Baumann, who engineered the troubled Monsanto deal, was given a new contract in 2020 that runs until 2024 and said at the time he would leave the company when that term expires.

A spokesperson said Bayer was always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further.

Bayer is also facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to break up the company, including selling off its consumer health unit and later separating its pharmaceuticals and agricultural businesses.

Another activist investment fund, hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben’s Inclusive Capital Partners, said this month it had also acquired a stake in Bayer, whose products include painkiller Aspirin, Yasmin contraceptives and stroke prevention pill Xarelto.

A stalwart of German industry with a nearly 160-year history, Bayer has lost over 40 per cent of its market value since the Monsanto deal, which was followed by a string of lawsuits over allegations that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt.

The post Bayer under investor pressure to speed up CEO changeover appeared first on Farmtario.

Sikes will succeed Dave MacLennan, who has served as Cargill’s CEO and chairman since 2013.

MacLennan will now assume the role of executive chair of Cargill’s board of directors and will serve as a strategic advisor to Sikes and ensure a smooth leadership transition, the company said.

Sikes, who will be the company’s 10th CEO, has been with Cargill for 31 years and currently serves as chief operating officer.

His previous posts included stints as president of Cargill’s meats division in Canada (2007-09), president of its North American protein arm (2014-18) and senior vice-president in charge of the company’s global protein and salt businesses (2018-21).

During his stint as head of the global protein business he oversaw the company’s expansion into plant-based protein products.

— Reporting for Reuters by Mrinalika Roy in Bangalore with files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

The post Cargill names new CEO appeared first on Farmtario.

Nutrien in January surprised investors by replacing its CEO for the second time in eight months. It then named Seitz, the head of its potash business, as interim CEO, replacing Mayo Schmidt.

Fertilizer companies are raking in profits due to sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the world’s second- and third-largest potash fertilizer suppliers after Canada.

Seitz expects those eastern European supplies to remain restricted into 2023.

“There are a lot of moving parts, but a lot of uncertainty in an environment where the demand for nutrients is growing,” he said in an interview.

Nutrien earned a record $3.6 billion in the second quarter, more than tripling profit from a year earlier.

The company is expanding its Canadian potash production by 20 per cent by 2025.

Rival BHP Group is building its first potash mine in Nutrien’s Canadian backyard and is open to taking on a partner. Seitz said his focus is on Nutrien’s business.

Asked about the turnover prior to his appointment, Seitz said he expected the company’s recent stability to continue.

“If you step back and look at the way we have been executing on our business, we’ve been doing that consistently,” he said.

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.

— Reporting for Reuters by Arunima Kumar in Bangalore and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

The post Nutrien’s interim CEO named CEO appeared first on Farmtario.

Robinson will replace Jean-Jacques Ruest, who announced his decision to step down from the role in October following investor demands for his exit after CN’s failed bid for Kansas City Southern.

CN will also appoint two new independent directors as a part of a settlement with TCI Fund Management, which has agreed to withdraw a requisition for a special meeting of shareholders that was previously slated for March 22.

Billionaire Chris Hohn’s TCI in September nominated four independent directors to the company’s board. It has been seeking a change since August, saying the board lacked “the right railroad experience and operational expertise.”

Robinson, who takes over the top role from Feb. 28, spent 27 years with Canadian Pacific Railway in various executive roles, before joining North American energy company TC Energy in 2014.

CN said Robinson has made it a personal priority to build proficiency in French, the sole official language of Quebec, which houses the company’s headquarters in Montreal.

The statement comes after a language furor rattled corporate Quebec last year, leaving some companies scrambling to improve the French-speaking skills of their C-suite executives.

CN also announced quarterly results on Tuesday. It reported an adjusted profit of $1.71 per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, beating market expectations of $1.53 per share.

— Reporting for Reuters by Rithika Krishna in Bangalore.

The post CN names new CEO, easing tussle with investor appeared first on Farmtario.

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.

The post Nutrien makes surprise CEO switch again despite strong profits appeared first on Farmtario.

Shares of CN fell as much as 6.5 per cent on the news.

The former Union Pacific executive was pitched for the top job by TCI Fund Management, which is CN’s second-largest shareholder with a five per cent stake.

“Vena looked to us like an ideal candidate considering his contribution to Union Pacific’s solid OR (operating ratio) progress since implementing PSR (precision scheduled railroading) in 2018,” Morningstar analyst Matthew Young said.

“There’s a good chance he would have helped reinvigorate CN’s operating strategy, and we suspect shareholders would have welcomed his leadership.”

CN in September lost out to Canadian Pacific Railway in a bidding war to acquire Kansas City Southern, which would have created the first direct railway route to link Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The fallout of the deal caused CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest to announce his retirement amid investor demand for his exit.

Ruest will retire at the end of January and the company is expecting to announce a new chief by then.

TCI Fund did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported in October that activist investor Elliott Management Corp, which owns a big stake in CN, had also thrown its weight behind Vena’s candidacy.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nathan Gomes in Bangalore.

The post Vena withdraws as candidate for CN CEO role appeared first on Farmtario.

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

The post Ex-Viterra chief Schmidt named Nutrien’s new CEO appeared first on Farmtario.

Bacon was Pulse Canada’s first hire and has been its CEO since its inception.

“It sounds like a story, but on my first day on the job, I went out and bought a chair and a filing cabinet,” he joked.

His primary task was to set Pulse Canada on its course of direction.

“It felt like weeks looking at an 11-page document for this new organization that said things like, ‘we will develop markets in China,’ but no details about how it’s supposed to be done,” Bacon explained about those early days in September 1997.

Under Bacon’s guidance, Pulse Canada fostered a massive expansion in the farming of pulse crops throughout the country. However, he stressed a variety of pulse crops was already being grown in Canada long before the national organization was formed.

“The supply chains were often to marketers in Europe and Turkey, who would sell them to their network,” Bacon said, noting the challenge for Pulse Canada was to change that “old world order of the pulse market.” That just didn’t mean growing more peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas and fababeans; it also meant encouraging companies in Canada to process pulses for the global market.

“As the Canadian pulse industry grew, we became the world’s leading supplier of peas and lentils,” he said.

During the mid-1990s, Canadian farmers were producing around 400,000 tonnes of lentils per year. By 2005, that topped one million tonnes and hit nearly 3.2 million tonnes in 2016, according to Statistics Canada.

Dry pea production rose from about 1.8 million tonnes in 1997 to 4.8 million tonnes by 2016. And despite some setbacks over the last five years, Statistics Canada reported that nearly 4.6 million tonnes were harvested in 2020.

Besides remarkable increases in production, Bacon said the Canadian pulse industry is very dynamic and forward-looking.

“It’s very much oriented to where (it) can be as opposed to focusing on the present,” he said.

Prior to Bacon’s lengthy tenure at Pulse Canada, the native of Ogema, Sask. earned degrees in agronomy and agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan. He worked for Alberta Agriculture before joining Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s research station at Swift Current, Sask. From there, he provided policy analysis for federal cabinet minister Charlie Mayer, then joined the Canadian Wheat Board.

Bacon initially announced his intention to retire about two years ago. Since then he has worked with the organization’s president, Greg Cherewyk, to take over as CEO come April 1.

— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

The post Pulse weekly outlook: Pulse Canada CEO retiring appeared first on Farmtario.

Starboard, in its letter to Corteva’s chairman, said it had identified someone new for the top job, but declined to name the person.

Corteva’s chairman Greg Page said the board unanimously backed CEO Jim Collins.

The agricultural supplier said while it agreed with many points raised by Starboard, the activist investor had not discussed with the company the specific operational recommendations on how to improve performance.

“We believe we are at an important inflection point in our company’s trajectory as the extensive investments we have made to enhance productivity over the last 18 plus months will begin to accelerate their impact on earnings,” Page said.

Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith last year criticized Corteva’s financial performance, noting its cash flow margin of 14.4 per cent lags behind peers and that the share price could be closer to US$55.

Corteva’s shares, which had risen 1.3 per cent in early trading, fell about 2.5 per cent to US$42.57.

The company, like other agricultural suppliers, has struggled in recent years as excess grain supplies have hurt crop prices and low farmer incomes have made it tough for companies to raise prices for pesticides or seeds.

Corteva, which spun out of industrial conglomerate DowDupont in 2019, has shut down some facilities and recently said it would look to cut some more costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starboard is known for its operational know-how and often proposes to add new directors to a company’s board. It had won 17 board seats at four companies in the first half of 2020.

The activist investor owns 11.7 million shares, or a 1.6 per cent stake, in Corteva, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

— Reporting for Reuters by Arathy S Nair in Bangalore.

The post Investor nominates directors for Corteva, aims to oust CEO appeared first on Farmtario.

The Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) announced Monday it now has its designation under the provincial Agricultural Producers’ Organization Funding Act. The designation allows the new organization to collect mandatory-yet-refundable checkoffs on all sales of spring wheat, winter wheat, barley, sunflowers, corn and flax.

The amounts of the checkoffs are “unchanged to what was in place with the five amalgamating organizations” — the National Sunflower Association of Canada, Manitoba Corn Growers Association, Manitoba Flax Growers Association and Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association and Winter Cereals Manitoba.

MCA applied in February for the designation regulation from the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council, following votes by the five groups’ memberships during annual general and special meetings at the CropConnect Conference in Winnipeg.

Also effective Aug. 1, Manitoba Corn Growers Association and Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association general manager Pam de Rocquigny will be the MCA’s CEO, and National Sunflower Association of Canada and Winter Cereals Manitoba executive director Darcelle Graham becomes the new group’s chief operating officer.

MCA said its new checkoffs will be invested in three main areas, making up 86 per cent of MCA’s total budget: research and production; market access and development; and communication and advocacy.

“Each dollar spent in these areas is an investment from Manitoba farmers which helps to make wheat (spring and winter), barley, sunflower, corn, and flax profitable production choices for Manitoba farmers,” MCA said in a release.

Checkoff-funded initiatives “will also work to maintain and continuously improve the competitiveness of these crops both domestically and internationally.”

MCA also said Monday that its new website will go live Aug. 4. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Merged Manitoba crop groups qualify for checkoffs appeared first on Farmtario.