Deere & Co. is laying off about 600 workers as the farm equipment maker deals with falling demand. Deere confirmed Monday that the manufacturing positions being cut are concentrated at two plants in Iowa and one at its base in Moline, Illinois, where 280 workers will be laid off on Aug. 30. A total of 310 workers will be laid off at the Iowa locations in Davenport and Dubuque, where 211 and 99 jobs will be cut, respectively. -Releasing quarterly earnings in May, Deere reported a more than 15% drop in revenue, the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales declines. Company executives said at the time that they expected further sales declines in the second half of the fiscal year and said it would continue to “take proactive steps to reduce production and inventory.” Deere & Co. reached a quarterly profit of $2.37 billion. from $2.86 billion in the same period a year ago and cut its full-year 2024 profit forecast for a second time as farmers continued to buy fewer tractors and other equipment due to falling prices for their crops . The US Department of Agriculture predicts that 2024 net farm income, a broad measure of profits, will reach $116.1 billion. This is a decrease of 25.5% from the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, net farm income is expected to decline 27.1% this year as farmers face lower prices for soybeans and corn. The USDA said lower direct government payments and rising production costs are also weighing on farmers. The latest layoffs amount to about 14% of the more than 4,000 production and maintenance jobs at the three facilities. Deere employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. Shares of Deere fell 1.6% in morning trading and are down about 7.5% since the start of 2024. In early June, Deere announced it was moving its skid steer and loader production from a facility in Dubuque, Iowa to Mexico by the end of 2026. The company said it was in the process of buying land in Ramos, Mexico to build a new plant. At the same time, Deere informed some workers at its planting and cylinder operations in Moline that more than 120 production workers will be placed on indefinite leave effective June 28. John Deere layoffs in IowaAccording to Iowa WARN, a log statewide layoff notices, Deere has laid off or plans to lay off more than 1,000 Iowa workers this year. Those announcements include several rounds of layoffs including more than 500 workers at John Deere Waterloo Works in Waterloo, more than 130 workers at John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny and nearly 60 workers at John Deere Intelligent Solutions in Urbandale.
Deere & Co. is laying off nearly 600 workers as the farm equipment maker faces falling demand.
Deere confirmed Monday that the manufacturing positions being cut are concentrated at two plants in Iowa and one at its base in Moline, Illinois, where 280 workers will be laid off on Aug. 30. A total of 310 workers will be laid off at the Iowa locations in Davenport and Dubuque, where 211 and 99 jobs will be cut, respectively.
Previous coverage: John Deere announces additional layoffs at Iowa locations
In its second-quarter earnings release in May, Deere reported a more than 15% drop in revenue, its third straight quarter of year-over-year sales declines. Company executives said at the time that they expected further sales declines in the second half of the fiscal year and said it would continue to “take proactive steps to reduce production and inventory.”
Deere & Co. posted a quarterly profit of $2.37 billion, down from $2.86 billion in the same period a year ago, and cut its full-year 2024 profit forecast for the second time as farmers continued to buy fewer tractors and other equipment for due to the drop in prices for their products.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that net farm income in 2024, a broad measure of profits, will reach $116.1 billion. This is a decrease of 25.5% from the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, net farm income is expected to decline 27.1% this year as farmers face lower prices for soybeans and corn. The USDA said lower direct government payments and rising production costs are also weighing on farmers.
The latest layoffs amount to about 14% of the more than 4,000 production and maintenance jobs at the three facilities. Deere employs more than 80,000 people worldwide.
Shares of Deere fell 1.6% in morning trading and are down about 7.5% since the start of 2024.
In early June, Deere announced it was moving its skid steer and loader production from a facility in Dubuque, Iowa to Mexico by the end of 2026. The company said it was in the process of purchasing land in Ramos, Mexico to build a new factory.
At the same time, Deere informed some workers at its planting and cylinder operations in Moline that more than 120 production workers would be placed on indefinite leave starting June 28.
John Deere lays off jobs in Iowa
According to Iowa WARN, a state registry of layoff notices, Deere has laid off or plans to lay off more than 1,000 workers in Iowa this year. Those announcements include several rounds of layoffs including more than 500 workers at John Deere Waterloo Works in Waterloo, more than 130 workers at John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny and nearly 60 workers at John Deere Intelligent Solutions in Urbandale.