Deere & Co. said it plans to lay off nearly 600 employees as the demand for farm equipment declines.
The company confirmed on Monday that the job cuts will affect production roles primarily at two factories in Iowa and at its headquarters in Moline, Illinois. By August 30, 280 employees will be laid off at the Moline facility, while 310 workers will be let go at the Iowa locations.
Notices to decrease employee numbers have been piling up for months now.
In March, Deere filed five notices on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification website, announcing its intention to lay off 150 workers over a two-month period at the Ankeny, Iowa, facility, which manufactures sprayers, cotton pickers, and other heavy agricultural equipment.
Concurrently, Deere indicated it would indefinitely lay off an additional 308 production workers at its Waterloo, Iowa, tractor plant, effective April 29. This plant manufactures Deere’s 7-R, 8-R, and 9-R Series tractors, including the recently introduced 9RX series.
On May 20, in its seventh WARN filing this year, Deere announced an additional 192 layoffs at the Waterloo plant, effective June 21.
“Unfortunately, this means parting with some of our talented and dedicated colleagues across our global production and salaried workforce,” wrote John Deere in an email to employees on May 31. That email was shared on Reddit.
The number of affected employees or locations for the upcoming layoffs was not disclosed, but the reduction in salaried workforce is expected by the end of September. John Deere employs roughly 83,000 people around the world, of which 38,000 are in the U.S.
John Deere struggles with falling demand for farm equipment
In May, Deere reported a more than 15 percent drop in revenue for its second-quarter earnings, marking the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales declines.
Company executives indicated that they anticipated further declines in sales for the second half of the fiscal year and planned to continue taking proactive measures to reduce production and inventory levels.
Deere’s quarterly profit was $2.37 billion, down from $2.86 billion during the same period last year. The company also revised its full-year 2024 profit forecast downwards for the second time as farmers purchase fewer tractors and equipment due to lower crop prices.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, net farm income for 2024 is projected to be $116.1 billion, a decrease of 25.5 percent from the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, this represents a 27.1 percent decline, with farmers facing lower prices for soybeans and corn, reduced direct government payments, and higher production costs.
The latest layoffs represent about 14 percent of the over 4,000 production and maintenance positions at the three affected facilities. Deere has a global workforce of more than 80,000 employees.
Deere’s stock dropped 1.6 percent in morning trading and has fallen approximately 7.5 percent since the start of 2024.
Earlier in June, Deere announced plans to relocate its skid steer and track loader manufacturing from Dubuque, Iowa, to Mexico by the end of 2026. The company is in the process of acquiring land in Ramos, Mexico, for a new factory.
Additionally, Deere informed over 120 production workers at its seeding and cylinder operations in Moline that they would be placed on indefinite layoff starting June 28.
