John Deere

John Deere

One of the five oldest companies in the United States, Deere & Company is the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment and a major U.S. producer of construction, forestry, and lawn and grounds care equipment. The company has factories throughout the world and distributes its products in more than 160 countries through independent retail dealers–nearly 5,000 worldwide. It is also active in financial services–retail and lease financing and insurance–and provides health care benefit management services to nearly 900 companies and government agencies in eight states. Deere has been an industry innovator since John Deere introduced the first successful self-cleaning steel plow in 1837. At that time, most Americans lived on farms; now many of Deere’s customers belong to the upper five percent of the nation’s farmers, who take in 80 percent of the net farm income; these farmers run big farms that need sophisticated equipment.