The Mosaic Company announced that Joc O'Rourke intends to retire and that Mosaic's board of directors has unanimously elected Bruce Bodine, currently SVP - North America, to succeed O'Rourke as the company's chief executive officer on January 1, 2024.
O'Rourke has already relinquished the title of president and will resign as CEO and a member of the Mosaic board of directors effective December 31, 2023, after which he will serve as a senior advisor until mid-2024. Bodine was elected president of the company and a member of the Mosaic boardof directors.
Bodine has worked for Mosaic and its predecessor company for many years and held a number of executive roles, including senior vice president - potash, senior vice president - phosphates, and vice president - supply chain. In his role as SVP - North America he also led the North American sales team. Additionally, he led the integration of Mosaic's North America businesses and currently leads enterprise-wide operations. ●
Bruce Bodine
Pivot Bio, Inc. has named Chris Abbott as chief executive officer. Pivot Bio co-founder and current CEO, Karsten Temme, will become chief innovation officer.
Abbott has invested in and helped build companies across the ag and food value chain from on-farm biological and digital solutions to midstream processing and logistics, down to the food ingredient and brand manufacturers. With a distinct focus on agriculture, fertilizer efficiency and agtech, deep industry relationships, and capital market expertise, he has served as an investor and advisor to dozens of sustainable technology companies.
Prior to joining Pivot Bio in 2023, Abbott was co-head of Continental Grain's Conti Ventures, where he helped build the company’s portfolio as a diversified global investor in food and agribusiness. He launched his career in agriculture on Wall Street at Piper Jaffray & Co., EcoAlpha Asset Management and Craig-Hallum Capital Group. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. ●
Chris Abbott
Biotalys announced the appointment of seasoned agricultural executive Kevin Helash as the company’s new CEO.
Helash, currently CEO of EnviroKure, will take on his new responsibilities upon termination of his current engagement, at the latest on December 1. Helash will replace Patrice Sellès, who will then step down from his position as CEO and director in mutual agreement with the company.
Mr. Helash’s nomination as director will be proposed for confirmation at the next shareholders meeting.
Helash is currently the CEO of the U.S. biostimulants and biofertilizers company EnviroKure, which he has been leading for the last year. He brings more than 30 years of international experience developing and executing aggressive growth strategies while controlling costs and enhancing profitability. His experience spans commercializing numerous breakthrough technologies in the agricultural industry on a global scale, including in positions as CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations and Agrinos, and as vice president and corporate officer of Agrium (now Nutrien). ●
Kevin Helash
Nano-Yield has named Mark Slavens, Ph.D. as its new president and chief operations officer. Slavens had been chief innovation officer for Aqua-Yield since January of 2022.
In his new role, Slavens will oversee all coporate operations and brands. The announcement was made by Nano-Yield CEO and co-founder, Clark T. Bell. “In under two years, Mark has led our innovation efforts, launched new brands and increased our technology stack. Mark is the perfect fit to lead the development of our growing line of brands as we continue to grow,” Bell said.
The move strengthens the structure in the company, with Nano-Yield being the corporate name and international brand, while the Aqua-Yield brand will focus specifically on domestic operations. With the move, Nano-Yield now includes four separate business entities: Nano-Yield for all operatoins including international focus; Aqua-Yield, with its primary focus on the USA; Turf NanoTech and its focus on products used primarily on professional turf (golf courses, sports fields and landscape manaement), NanoCote with its focus on granular input coatings and the company’s increasing efforts to establish business to business technology partnership agreements aroundthe world.
Along with Slaven’s move to president and COO, others have also been given new responsibilities: Landon Bunderson, Ph.D. will remain as the chief science officer, and will now also oversee all aspects of Aqua-Yield’s domestic products and practices as general manager; Brooke Rosqvist was name brand manager of the company’s new granular coating division – NanoCote; Garrett Olsen was name director of R&D; and Josh Roberts, in addition to his chief financial officer responsibilities, will continue to lead the Nano-Yield supply chain. ●
Syngenta Group’s board of directors has elected Jeff Rowe as chief executive officer (CEO) of Syngenta Group, effective January 1, 2024. Rowe is currently president, Syngenta Crop Protection, Syngenta Group’s largest business unit. He was previously president of Syngenta Seeds.
Erik Fyrwald, Syngenta Group CEO, will continue as CEO until the end of the year, when he will retire after seven and a half years with the company. He will continue as advisor to the chairman of Syngenta Group and remain on the boardof directors.
Rowe joined Syngenta as president of Syngenta Seeds and North America in September 2016. Before his current role as head of the crop protection business, he was responsible for the successful turnaround of the seeds business, with outstanding growth and return to profitability. He also has spearheaded Syngenta Group’s efforts into regenerative agriculture and soil health. Prior to joining Syngenta, Rowe served in several leadership roles at DuPont Pioneer over a 20-year period. He is also a fifth-generation farmer who has first-hand knowledge of the issues that are important to farmers today.
Jeff Rowe
