Dow Agro CEO to take job with farm equipment maker

The top executive at Dow AgroSciences LLC in Indianapolis is leaving to lead a Nebraska company that makes irrigation equipment for farmers.

Timothy Hassinger, a 33-year veteran of Dow Agro and its president and CEO since 2014, has been hired as president and CEO of Lindsay Corp., based in Omaha, effective Oct. 16.

Lindsay announced the hiring on Tuesday morning, but Dow has not confirmed Hassinger’s departure or commented on a successor. A Dow Agro spokeswoman on Tuesday morning did not immediately respond to questions or make Hassinger available for an interview.

Hassinger’s departure will come at a pivotal time, as parent Dow Chemical Co. begins its huge merger with chemical giant DuPont Co. in a $62 billion combination. The merger, announced in 2015, was approved by U.S. antitrust regulators in June and is expected to close in August.

Once merged, DuPont and Dow plan to spin off into three public companies: one focusing on agriculture, one on material science and one on specialty products. The new company will be called DowDuPont and have dual headquarters in Midland, Michigan and Wilmington, Delaware.

The companies have said Wilmington will be the headquarters for the combined agricultural business, but Indianapolis—the home of Dow AgroSciences, which has about 1,500 employees in the city—will be one of its two “global business centers.”

Hassinger, 55, will succeed Rick Parod, who is retiring after 17 years at Lindsay.

Prior to being named president and CEO of Dow Agro in 2014, Hassinger served as the company’s global commercial leader and vice president of the crop protection global business unit.

Lindsay makes and markets irrigation equipment primarily used in agricultural markets, which increase or stabilize crop protection while conserving water, energy and labor, the company said in a release. Sales were $519 million last year, making it much smaller than Dow Agro, which rang up sales of about $6.2 billion in 2016.