Deere and Company will make a lot of money this year, just not quite as much as last year. Wednesday, the company reports earnings of 681 million dollars in the first quarter, or $1.81 per share up from 1.65 a year ago.
Spokesman Ken Golden says it's the 15th quarterly earnings record in a row, year over year. Worldwide sales rose three percent to $7.6 billion. And income increased across all the company's divisions in November, December, and January.
This year, Deere factories in the US will begin installing new engines with improved technology, to comply with new emissions standards. Golden says the process is time-consuming, so production of large equipment will drop.
“So that requires the manufacturing line to change, not only how we supply the line but how we’re building the machinery as well.”
For example, he says employees at John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline are making the switch now. The company also expects Ag equipment demand to drop this year, because farm income is projected to decline from last year's record high. Golden says Deere now predicts farm equipment sales will decline six percent in the second quarter, and three percent for the year.