Changes for John Deere Will Impact Several U.S. Communities

John Deere plans a series of plant closures as it restructures its operations, which will affect hundreds of positions in rural communities.

Here are four plants that will be impacted by the company’s decision:

Clarion, Iowa – The town of approximately 2,700 residents will lose production of Hagie STS sprayers at the Hagie Manufacturing plant. The facility has been in operation there since 1947. Nearly 300 positions could be lost in the Clarion area when the plant closes in late 2028 or early 2029.

John Deere announced that Clarion operations will move to another factory in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

Ottumwa, Iowa – The city of about 25,000 residents will lose production of windrower and round baler production from Ottumwa Works. The decision could affect about 400 workers. Production could wind down by 2028.

John Deere plans to transition the operations to its existing plant in Des Moines.

Moline, Illinois – The city of 43,000 residents will lose small plant production. An unspecified number of positions will leave the John Deere Seeding facility over the next year as the company moves production to its plant in Paton, Iowa.

Thibodaux, Louisiana – While the community of 15,500 residents could gain employees when John Deere moves its Clarion operations there, it could lose other positions when sugar cane harvester production heads to Catalão, Brazil. The net change is unclear.

Deere already manufactures sugar cane harvesters at the Brazil plant and could increase production as the company transitions Thibodaux sugar cane harvest production over the next two years or so.

John Deere said in a statement:

“The changes reaffirm Deere’s commitment to U.S. manufacturing by aligning production capacity with regional customer demand and advanced manufacturing capabilities. By concentrating investments in modern, high-use facilities, Deere intends to preserve and expand critical U.S. manufacturing capabilities, enhance competitiveness, support American manufacturing jobs, and maintain its ability to invest through business cycles while continuing to serve customers well into the future.”

The United Auto Workers pledged to try to stop John Deere’s moves. The union released this statement:

“The UAW is disgusted by John Deere’s latest attack on the working class of Iowa. The UAW will use every tool at our disposal, from our contract negotiations in 2027, to legislative and executive action, to keep good jobs in Iowa and stop the one-sided class war waged by John Deere. 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’s time for America to come together to save John Deere from its own corporate greed, and fight back in the war on America’s factory workers.”

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