Deere & Co. is making more labor cuts to its Midwest production plants in response to declining demand for tractors and combines.
The Illinois-based company recently notified 590 workers across three facilities of layoffs, effective Aug. 30, a spokesperson told Agriculture Dive in an email Monday. This adds to the massive downsizing happening across the agricultural equipment industry.
As part of the layoffs, Deere is cutting 280 employees from its Harvester Works location in East Moline, Illinois, according to the spokesperson. It is also set to reduce its workforce in Iowa by 210 at Davenport Works and by 100 at Dubuque Works, where some production is moving to Mexico.
With farmer incomes falling, companies such as Deere, CNH and Agco are working to slow production and offset ballooning inventories as borrowers pull back on their spending. The companies are bracing for further sales declines the rest of the year.
“To better position Deere to meet future demand, we continue to take proactive steps to reduce production and inventory,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Over the past year, Deere has notified more than 1,200 employees of layoffs at production facilities in Illinois and Iowa. In addition to the latest round of cuts, more than 400 workers have lost their jobs at multiple Iowa plants in recent months, and 225 employees were laid off in Illinois last October.
Additionally, CNH reduced its leadership team as part of a broader restructuring plan earlier this year, and Agco unveiled plans last week to cut up to 6% of its salaried workforce to shore up its business.
