Deere & Company

John Deere was a blacksmith who in 1837 developed the first commercially successful self-scouring steel plow.⁠[1]

John Deere worked as a blacksmith in Grand Detour, Illinois, where in 1837 a broken saw blade was used to build his self-scouring plow. By June 1848 he and Robert N. Tate had formed Deere & Tate Co. and settled on Moline, Illinois. In 1853 Deere bought out his partners, and in 1858 he turned over management to his son Charles Deere, then 21.⁠[2]

In 1907 the company passed to its third president, William Butterworth. Sales grew from $5.3 million in 1909 to over $30 million in 1913. On March 5, 1912, the board passed a resolution to fund research and development of a new “tractor plow.” On March 14, 1918, the company purchased the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in Waterloo, Iowa.⁠[3]

The purchase cost $2.25 million and brought the company its first commercial tractor, the Waterloo Boy. Further development led to the Model D, introduced in 1923, after which the Waterloo Boy was discontinued.⁠[4]

Deere & Company was incorporated under the laws of Delaware in 1958.⁠[5]

On June 1, 2017, Deere announced the acquisition of the Wirtgen Group, a road-building equipment maker; the deal closed six months later at $5.2 billion, funded with cash and debt. Deere previously made no road-building equipment. It planned to keep the group’s brands, including Wirtgen, Vögele, Hamm, Kleemann, Benninghoven and Ciber.⁠[6]

On August 29, 2019, the company named Chief Operating Officer John May to succeed Samuel Allen as CEO effective November 4; May joined the board immediately, and Allen was to continue as chairman after stepping down as CEO.⁠[7]

After a strike of just over a month involving some 10,000 workers, United Auto Workers members approved a new contract with Deere by 61% to 39%, ratified on November 17. The six-year contract provides a 10% raise in the first year, 5% raises in the third and fifth years, and an $8,500 signing bonus per worker.⁠[8]

In April 2026 Deere settled the right-to-repair class action begun with a 2022 complaint, paying $99 million into a fund for farmers who paid its dealers for large-equipment repairs from January 2018 and agreeing to provide repair digital tools for 10 years. Deere said the case ends “with no finding of wrongdoing.”⁠[9]

In August 2026, Judge Iain D. Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an amended preliminary approval order, finding the settlement “fair, reasonable, adequate.” The class has more than 200,000 members, and the fairness hearing is set for January 19, 2027. Wilson Farms, a former class representative, objected.⁠[10]

On September 10, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Deere, neither admitting nor denying liability, would pay about $10 million to resolve Foreign Corrupt Practices Act books-and-records and internal controls charges over bribes paid through a consultant to Thai officials from 2017 to 2020 by Wirtgen Thailand, acquired in late 2017.⁠[11]

On January 15, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission, joined by Minnesota and Illinois, sued Deere in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging its repair restrictions raised farmers’ costs and that it unlawfully maintained monopoly power in repair services, and sought full-function repair software for owners and independent shops. Two commissioners dissented.⁠[12]

The company has four segments: Production & Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture & Turf, Construction & Forestry (including Wirtgen roadbuilding equipment) and Financial Services (John Deere Financial). It had approximately 73,100 employees as of November 2, 2025.⁠[5]

The headquarters is at One John Deere Place, Moline, Illinois, and the common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DE. There were 270,445,437 shares outstanding as of November 28, 2025.⁠[13]

For fiscal 2025, ended November 2, net sales and revenues fell 12% to $45.684 billion, and net income attributable to Deere & Company was $5.027 billion, down from $7.100 billion. The company forecast fiscal 2026 net income of $4.00 billion to $4.75 billion.⁠[14]

The direct impact of incremental tariffs incurred in 2025 was approximately $600 million, excluding effects on suppliers and market demand.⁠[15]

On July 8, 2026, the FTC and Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin announced a settlement with Deere. Under the proposed stipulated order, for 10 years Deere must give farmers and independent repairers, on fair and reasonable terms, repair resources comparable to those of authorized dealers. The order takes effect once the judge approves and signs it.⁠[16]

The same day, the FTC and the states filed a joint motion in Case No. 3:25-cv-50017 asking the court to enter the stipulated order.⁠[17]

Deere admitted no wrongdoing and must pay the five states a combined $1 million for legal expenses. Deere said the agreement allows it to “move forward with a continued focus on supporting its customers.”⁠[18]

For the third quarter ended August 2, 2026, net sales and revenues rose 5% to $12.608 billion, and net income attributable to Deere & Company was $1.379 billion, up from $1.289 billion. The company raised its fiscal 2026 net income outlook to $4.75 billion to $5.00 billion.⁠[19]