Deere & Company will invest an additional $90 million in its Waterloo, Iowa, facilities with plans to expand manufacturing capacity for large, high-horsepower tractors. Deere said the investment will help the company meet continued worldwide market demand for the equipment.
"John Deere has experienced strong global customer demand for tractors made in Waterloo that expertly integrate complex electronic and mechanical systems to provide powerful and versatile machines," said David Everitt, president, Agricultural Division – North America, Australia and Asia and Global Tractor Sourcing. "John Deere customers around the world are reinvesting in farm machinery as they sell commodities at higher prices due to increasing demands for food, especially meat, and increasing global use of bio-fuels."
Tractors built in Waterloo are exported to more than 130 countries and are highly popular with the most productive producers in North America.
Although the investment will not add floor space to current Deere facilities, it will increase the company's Waterloo capacity to build large, high-horsepower tractors by about 25 percent. The improvements will be substantially completed by early 2010, the company said. The investment will include additional machine tooling, new manufacturing technology, and improved work processes as well as replacement of the current paint system.
The project follows a multi-year investment by Deere of more than $140 million to modernize and improve efficiencies at its manufacturing facilities in Waterloo, which includes John Deere's largest tractor factory in the world.
John Deere is the world's leading provider of advanced products and services for agriculture and forestry and a major provider of advanced products and services for construction, lawn and turf care, landscaping and irrigation. John Deere also provides financial services worldwide and manufactures and markets engines used in heavy equipment. Since it was founded in 1837, the company has extended its heritage of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation around the globe.
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