No longer lined up to lead Louis Dreyfus’ global commodities operations, Mayo Schmidt is back on the board of one of the world’s major ag retail and fertilizer firms.

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