$11.7 billion agricultural product developer Monsanto announced in a regulatory filing that its vice president and controller, Richard Clark, plans to step down, effective Dec. 7.

At that time, he will serve as special assistant to CFO and Executive Vice President Carl Casale, until Clark retires Jan. 29, 2010, the company said.

Following his retirement, Clark will be succeeded by Nicole Ringenberg, currently the company’s vice president of finance for its seeds and traits business.