Deere to close two Iowa plants as production shifts through 2029

By Priya Raman

John Deere will close its Ottumwa Works and the Clarion plant in Iowa, with an estimated 500 to 600 workers affected. The multiyear consolidation shifts windrower, sprayer and sugarcane harvester production.

Where the work moves

• Windrower production will move from Ottumwa Works to Des Moines Works by the end of fiscal 2027.
• Deere subsidiary Hagie will transfer STS self-propelled sprayer manufacturing from Clarion to a Deere facility in Thibodaux, Louisiana, in a few years.
• Current sugarcane harvester production at Thibodaux will move to Catalão, Brazil, by 2029.
• Small-planter production will move from John Deere Seeding in Moline, Illinois, to Deere’s Paton, Iowa, facility.

Deere says its manufacturing review combines streamlined operations, expanded capacity where it creates the most value, automation, modern manufacturing technology and strategic sourcing to improve flexibility and cost competitiveness.

The Construction and Forestry Division is also evaluating sourcing across its operations, aiming to strengthen competitiveness, increase flexibility, manage costs and invest in product development, technology, field sales and customer support.

What changes for farmers buying equipment?

The announcement changes factories rather than product ranges. Deere says customers will not experience disruptions during the transition.

It also says it will engage employees, union representatives, local leaders and community stakeholders to identify the best future use for the Ottumwa and Clarion sites.

Farmers and dealers should track the transfer dates and machine availability rather than read the closures as an immediate supply failure.

Jobs, unions and the wider strategy

The Des Moines Register estimates that 300 employees at Ottumwa Works will be affected, along with 200 to 300 at Clarion. Ottumwa dates to the early 1900s, while Clarion has operated since the 1940s.

Deere and the United Auto Workers are negotiating a new contract; the current agreement expires in fall 2027. The UAW rejected Deere’s offer in an August vote, citing 1,600 workers already laid off companywide.

The union said: “We are done seeing the massive profits our labor generates given away to Wall Street and our jobs being destroyed so some executive can make an extra buck.” It also threatened legislative and executive action.

Those cuts extend restructuring announced over several years, including moving Iowa manufacturing to Mexico and eliminating thousands of jobs in Dubuque, Waterloo, Davenport and Ankeny.

Deere has simultaneously announced $20 billion of North American investment over the next decade, including a $70 million excavator plant in Kernersville, North Carolina.

Modernisation, at least on the factory map, has a rather uneven distribution of costs.

A soft market behind the restructuring

U.S. agricultural tractor sales fell 16.4% year over year in September, while combine sales dropped 10.9%, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

The number of farm-equipment stores owned by big dealers has fallen from 96 in 2020 to 77 this year, a decline of more than 25% over the last decade, according to Farm Equipment magazine.

Deere’s latest third quarter showed higher revenue and profit:

• Net sales and revenues rose 5% year over year to $12.6 billion.
• Equipment operations net sales increased 6% to $10.9 billion.
• Equipment operations delivered a 14.4% operating margin.

Christopher Seibert, director of investor relations at Deere & Co., credited factory output that exceeded expectations, disciplined execution and favourable price realisation.

Sales in Deere’s global production and precision-ag business still fell 6% for the quarter, with full-year sales down about 10%.

A profitable manufacturer can still be selling into a soft market. Strong execution and pricing can lift revenue while demand for key machines weakens.

Deanna Kovar, who leads Deere’s global agriculture and turf division and production and precision ag, said the company was proactively adjusting production and modestly under-producing retail demand in South America to control inventory.

She described 2026 as the “bottom of the agricultural equipment cycle” and expects a “measured recovery rather than a sharp rebound” in 2027.

For farmers weighing purchases, that forecast points to measured improvement, not a sudden surge in equipment demand.

Deere is not alone

CNH Industrial closed its backhoe plant in Burlington, Iowa, earlier this year, cutting at least 390 workers, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices. CNH cited cratering demand for loader backhoes, against rising skid-steer and compact-track loader sales and production elsewhere, which made Burlington comparatively expensive to maintain.

Agco cut production by 10%. Monarch Tractor ceased autonomous operations earlier this year, selling its intellectual properties and assets to Caterpillar. Deere is not alone in reshaping farm-equipment manufacturing.

The next checkpoints are the windrower transfer by the end of fiscal 2027, the UAW contract expiry in fall 2027, the less precise timing of Hagie’s sprayer move to Thibodaux, and the 2029 shift of sugarcane harvester work to Brazil. Farmers should watch whether Deere can keep its promise of uninterrupted customer supply as those transfers approach.