MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S. — Cargill announced on Dec. 8 that Todd Hall has been named to the Cargill Leadership Team (CLT), and Trudy Rautio, president and chief executive officer of Carlson, has been elected to the board of directors.

The CLT is an executive group in charge of Cargill’s strategic direction, growth and capital allocation.

“Todd has a consistent track record of growing Cargill businesses, both organically and through acquisition,” said David MacLennan, Cargill’s president and chief executive officer (CEO). “He has shown the ability to build strong teams that focus on what our customers need to be successful.”

Hall joined Cargill in 1982 and held general management positions with the animal nutrition businesses until 1998. At that time, he joined the animal nutrition leadership team and worked with businesses in Southeast Asia, Europe and the U.S. In 2001, he oversaw Cargill’s acquisition of Agribrands International, which was Cargill’s largest acquisition at the time. Hall was appointed president of Cargill Animal Nutrition in 2004. In 2008, he became a platform leader, most recently focusing on poultry operations in Central America, China, Europe, Thailand and the United States.

In addition to Hall, the CLT includes MacLennan; Bill Buckner, senior vice-president; Paul Conway, vice-chairman; Emery Koenig, vice-chairman and chief risk officer; and Marcel H.M. Smits, executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

Buckner will retire in 2015 after 27 years with Cargill. He will step down from the CLT in February. Buckner helped build Cargill’s meat and poultry businesses and has been closely involved with the company’s food safety efforts.

Rautio, who was named president and CEO of Carlson in 2012, has been a senior executive with the company since 1997. Prior to her current role as president and CEO, Rautio served as executive vice-president and chief financial and administrative officer of Carlson since 2005.

Rautio serves on the board of directors of Carlson, the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Securian Holding Company, Donaldson Company and the Bemidji State University Foundation.

Rautio joins five other independent directors on Cargill's board: Richard H. Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Louis R. Chênevert, retired chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corporation; Arthur D. Collins, Jr., retired chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Inc.; Richard M. Kovacevich, chairman emeritus of Wells Fargo & Company; and Bernard Poussot, retired chairman, CEO and president of Wyeth.