Deere announces job cuts to tackle slowing farm equipment demand

[June 05, 2024]  (Reuters) -Deere & Co said on Wednesday it would cut an unspecified number of production and salaried jobs to save costs as it grapples with a downturn in farm equipment demand.  

People look at Deere equipment as they attend National Farm Machinery show in Louisville, Kentucky, February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Meredith Davis/FILE PHOTO

The cuts will reduce "overlap and redundancy in roles and responsibilities", Deere disclosed in a filing, following media reports from the past week about layoffs.

The news comes weeks after the company trimmed its annual profit forecast for the second time and projected steeper declines in sales of large agriculture equipment.

Lower crop prices are leaving agriculture equipment sellers with an excess of unsold tractors and combines, leading some to offer discounts and suspend new orders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also forecast farm income would slide 25.5% to $116.1 billion this year from 2023.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Devika Syamnath)

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