Compensation for Archer Daniels Midland CEO fell 2 percent during turbulent year

ADM chief’s compensation falls 2 percent

DECATUR, Ill. — The CEO of agribusiness leader Archer Daniels Midland Co. received compensation worth $14.9 million in fiscal 2009, a decrease of nearly 2 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures filed with regulators.

Chief executive Patricia Woertz’s base salary was virtually unchanged at $1.29 million, compared with $1.3 million the year before. Her bonus fell 33 percent to $2.04 million, from $3.04 million.

That cut came during a tumultuous year for ADM, which is involved in businesses as diverse as growing and shipping grain and producing food additives and ethanol. Record-high grain prices last summer helped its commodity trading unit, but the gains were offset when the global recession stifled demand and dragged down prices last fall.

The stock and options Woertz received were worth $11.3 million on the day they were granted, 8 percent more than the $10.5 million worth she was awarded a year earlier.

Her other compensation fell 56 percent to $72,807 from $166,375. She received $26,242 for use of company aircraft and automobiles, along with telephone and Internet services. She also got $8,852 for tax payments on personal financial planning advice. Woertz’s compensation also included $12,250 in company contributions to her retirement plan.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value that the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive’s compensation in the previous fiscal year.