Deere & Company

Deere & Company is the world's largest agricultural machinery manufacturer and a major construction equipment producer, headquartered in Moline, Illinois, USA. Founded in 1837, the company generated $45.684 billion in FY2025 net sales with net income of $5.027 billion, employing 73,100 people across 100+ factories and facilities serving customers in 160+ countries. Its construction and forestry division (C&F) contributed roughly $13.2 billion of FY2025 sales, ranking fourth globally in construction machinery.

Company Overview

Deere produces the industry's broadest agricultural equipment portfolio — tractors from compact utility to 600+ HP articulated 4WD giants, combine harvesters, self-propelled sprayers, forage harvesters, cotton pickers and precision planting equipment — plus a substantial construction and forestry line inherited from its 2017 acquisition of Wirtgen Group, the world's largest road construction machinery maker. Manufacturing is defined by high-percentage in-house production: Deere Power Systems designs and builds its own diesel engines, while captive transmission and axle production at the Waterloo Tractor Works and Coffeyville drivetrain plant ensure end-to-end powertrain control. Its precision agriculture stack — GPS-guided autonomous steering, variable-rate application and See & Spray weed identification — is manufactured into machines through in-house electronics and sensor integration lines, with See & Spray reducing chemical usage by up to 50%.

The company's construction division produces crawler excavators, motor graders, backhoe loaders and articulated dump trucks, leveraging Wirtgen's cold milling machines, pavers and compactors for the road-building segment. This dual agricultural-construction profile gives Deere a rare revenue hedge: when farming equipment demand contracts, infrastructure and road-building cycles can partially offset the decline.

Global Presence

Deere operates 100+ factories and facilities globally, including more than 60 major sites in the United States — such as the Waterloo, Iowa tractor complex (the world's largest, at 2,734 acres) and the East Moline, Illinois Harvester Works. International plants span Germany (Mannheim, Zweibrücken — Wirtgen's windhagen and dettingen sites), Mexico (Saltillo, Monterrey), Brazil, India (Pune, Dewas), Argentina and China (Tianjin and Jiamusi main factories). The Waterloo engine works produces 250,000+ diesel engines annually. The company maintains one of the largest dealer networks in the industry, with more than 4,000 dealer locations across North America alone, ensuring rapid parts and service response for construction contractors and farmers alike.

Key Strengths

Captive engine, transmission and precision electronics manufacturing enables tight mechanical-digital integration that defines modern precision agriculture and construction. With $45.68B in FY2025 revenue and 73,100 employees, Deere maintains industry-leading manufacturing margins through vertical integration and scale, posting a 38.36% gross margin even through the agricultural trough. The Smart Industrial strategy connects every machine to the John Deere Operations Center, creating a data feedback loop where field performance continuously informs quality improvements. Recent acquisitions — drone hyperspectral imaging firm Sentera, Finnish forestry equipment maker Risutec Oy, spraying robot developer GUSS Automation, and the 2026 Right-to-Repair settlement opening diagnostic software to independent repairers — deepen its software, automation and regulatory moat.

Challenges & Outlook

North American and European large-tractor demand fell 10-15% in 2025 on weak crop prices and high interest rates, driving FY2025 revenue down 12%; the construction division also faced dealer destocking after three record years. Deere cut more than 3,500 US jobs in 2024-2025 and shifted some compact track loader production to Mexico amid steel and aluminum tariffs. A ten-year Right-to-Repair antitrust dispute with the FTC was settled, opening diagnostic software access to independent repairers. Despite the cyclical trough, its precision agriculture subscription revenue, Wirtgen road-building portfolio and scale position it for recovery as both the agricultural cycle turns and US infrastructure spending accelerates. VerityRank Score of 91/100.