The Toro Co. has elected Jeffrey M. Ettinger to its board of directors, bringing membership on the Toro board to 10.

Ettinger, 51, is the chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods Corp., a $6.5 billion multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products based in Austin.

Ettinger joined Hormel Foods in 1989; he was elected president in May 2004, chief executive officer in January 2006, and chairman of the board in November 2006.

Ettinger is a native of Pasadena, Calif., and holds bachelor of arts and law degrees from the UCLA. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the American Meat Institute, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Austin Medical Center Foundation and The Hormel Foundation.

Bloomington-based Toro is a leading worldwide provider of turf and landscape maintenance equipment, and precision irrigation systems.