Planting Equipment

No, John Deere is Not Freezing Production or Stepping Away From its U.S. Factories

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:48:45 GMT

An online report last week claimed John Deere is shutting down ALL manufacturing in response to the ongoing tariff situation in the U.S.

But we looked into it, and we’re here to tell you: don’t take the bait — or, as the kids say, feed the trolls — because it’s simply not true.

An article authored by Kieran Schalkwyk and titled “John Deere Freezes U.S. Manufacturing in Unprecedented Shutdown” appeared on MSN.com and was aggregated by Google News feeds last week, claiming the manufacturer is “making a radical move that some might think is ‘un-American.’”

John Deere shared the following LinkedIn post Friday afternoon. You can also visit Deere.com for more information on the company’s U.S. manufacturing presence.

The MSN.com post has since been taken down and brings up an error page:

MSN.com screenshot

(MSN.com)

It’s somewhat bewildering timing for this particular misinformation ploy.

John Deere recently put out a blog post outlining its commitment to U.S. manufacturing. The statement says John Deere will invest $20 billion into its U.S. footprint over the next decade, which includes major expansion projects in Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Today, the company has 60 manufacturing facilities in more than 16 U.S. states and employs over 30,000 American workers.

What is true is over the past 18 months, the company has been forced to lay off some employees , and it strategically slowed manufacturing at some production facilities in Iowa in response to depressed farmer demand for new tractors and combines.

Of course, John Deere is not alone navigating a treacherous global farm economy. Machinery rivals AGCO and CNH also made the tough choice to layoff factory workers over the past 12 months. CNH even completely shutdown its overseas machinery imports during the first few days of the tariff policy rollout, although that pause was only temporary.

In February, we updated our popular “Who Makes What Where” feature showing where major farm equipment is manufactured around the world.

Our analysis of John Deere’s global factory network shows that of the 60 John Deere machines relevant to U.S. farmers, 50 of them (83%) are manufactured here in North America. Of all the major farm equipment manufacturers we polled, John Deere has the largest U.S.-based manufacturing footprint other than Canadian-based Buhler Industries, which is 100% North America based.

So, it feels safe to say we can put this rumor to bed once and for all: No, John Deere is not shutting down its factories. Myth Busted. Shutdown the rumor mill.

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From the Factory to Your Fields: Where Farm Equipment Is Made

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 17:25:58 GMT

The global agriculture equipment market is currently valued at $181 billion (USD) and is expected to grow by 4% over the next eight years. That’s according to a recent analysis from global consulting firm IMARC Group.

While IMARC Group pegs Asia-Pacific as the leading region for farm equipment manufacturing market share, it would stand to reason most of those machines are being sold to farmers in that region. The farm equipment U.S. farmers use is most commonly built in Europe, North America and South America.

Brand Breakdown
For example, John Deere’s manufacturing footprint is mainly based in North America. Of the 60 John Deere machines relevant to row-crop producers, 50 of them (83%) are manufactured in North America. Drilling down further, the three states with the largest John Deere manufacturing presence are:

Iowa at 61%
North Dakota at 17%
Illinois at 15%

Case IH builds 66% of its row-crop machines throughout North America, while 24% of them are manufactured in Europe.

Fellow CNH brand New Holland maintains a fairly balanced manufacturing presence between Europe (30%) and North America (43%).

AGCO’s Germany-based brand, Fendt, builds 57% of its row-crop machines in the European Union (EU) with North America hosting roughly 43% of its manufacturing. Claas has a large manufacturing presence in Europe, but it also manufactures its LEXION combine in Omaha, Neb., and has facilities in Columbus, Ind., and Regina, Saskatchewan.

McCormick and Landini machines are built entirely in EU factories. In contrast, Buhler Industries’ manufacturing footprint is fully based in North America.

Check out the data to see where your favorite tractor, planter, sprayer, combine and other farm machines are built in 2025.

Click here to download a printable version of the table above.

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Space Weather: Start Planning Today for Tomorrow’s GPS Outage

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 20:22:35 GMT

Farm Journal’s Smart Farming Week is an annual week-long emphasis on innovation in agriculture. The goal is to encourage you to explore and prioritize the technology, tools and practices that will help you farm smarter. Innovation today ensures an efficient, productive and sustainable tomorrow.

It’s a simple question, but one that Dr. Terri Griffin, Kansas State University, suspects many farmers would have a hard time answering “Yes” to: Can you plant or harvest a crop without GPS?

Instances of space weather , or solar flare events, can and often do cause GPS failures. Griffin says a lot of important, powerful and smart people in world government are concerned about these events becoming more commonplace.

Looking at the production cycle specifically, such an event occurring in January is probably not a big deal to farmers as the vast majority aren’t planting or harvesting during that time. But, if one of these “atmospheric scintillations” were to occur during the busy spring planting or fall harvest season?

“With today’s connected equipment you can’t plant without GPS lock, which requires getting connection with a minimum of four satellites, the seeds won’t drop,” he says. “So, the question becomes, do we wait it out? Or do we keep an old 6-row ‘dumb planter’ with row markers for just these instances?”

Griffin has been monitoring the situation from his Kansas State University lab in Manhattan for some time now. He says this summer’s Northern Lights event over North America was a geomagnetic storm that did have a temporary negative effect on GPS signals.

Not to mention, there are warnings abound from government agencies that predict such things (NOAA, NASA, etc.) that the world should expect a widespread outage at some point during Solar Cycle 25 – which is the cycle we’re in currently.

“We are approaching solar max in the next six months to a year,” Griffin says. “I am fully expecting to have GPS blackouts at some point soon at this latitude. Think about how we use GPS – the airline industry, for one, is paying a lot of attention to this, as they should be.”

Farmers could conceivably manage a widespread GPS outage by investing in a local RTK network. Griffin says RTK is great in that it is a set, earthly signal, and you can basically create your own local positioning system with three or more ground stations. It is an expensive backup plan, though, he admits.

Griffin has three recommendations for farmers in the field when a previously robust GPS signal proves suddenly suspect:

1.) Don’t panic. Instead, wait it out and be patient. Most GPS outages are only temporary. Griffin says an R2 intensity event in space would result in just a one-hour outage, but a more robust R4 would likely mean an entire week without GPS. “That could get really tough if you’re in the middle of planting or harvesting,” he admits, adding that many sprayers also require GPS connection.

2.) Don’t blame your equipment dealer. It’s likely not their fault, and they might not even be aware there is a regional outage. Instead, give your sales rep a quick call or text to see if there is an outage within their systems.

3.) Check NOAA’s Planetary K Index. You can even sign up for email alerts to let you know if you’re in the midst of one of these space weather induced outages.

“Can you legislate (against) sunspots,” Griffin adds. “I mean, someone will try to, but that’s probably not possible. What will we do when these events occur?”

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