Weak Agriculture Demand Leads to Deere Manufacturing Layoffs

Deere & Co. will lay off 180 workers in the Quad Cities area because of a slowdown in the agricultural economy that has cut demand for tractors, combines and other farm equipment, according to the Des Moines Register and other news outlets.
Sept. 16, 2015

Deere & Co. will lay off 180 workers in the Quad Cities area because of a slowdown in the agricultural economy that has cut demand for tractors, combines and other farm equipment, according to the Des Moines Register and other news outlets. Deere said it will lay off 150 workers at Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill., effective this week and 30 more workers at Davenport Works in Davenport, Iowa, effective Oct. 2.

Last month, Deere lowered its net income forecast for the year to $1.8 billion from $1.9 billion because of softness in the agriculture economy and a weak energy sector that has slowed down equipment purchases. Deere said it expects agriculture-related sales to decline 25 percent in 2015, with lower commodity prices and falling farm incomes playing a role.

Last week Deere and the United Auto Workers said they had begun negotiations on a new master labor agreement that will cover about 10,000 manufacturing workers in 12 facilities.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.

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