About Deere &

Deere & Company and its subsidiaries (John Deere) engages in the production of agricultural, turf, construction, and forestry equipment and solutions. Segments The company operates through Production and Precision Agriculture (PPA), Small Agriculture and Turf (SAT), Construction and Forestry (CF), and Financial Services (FS) segments. The PPA segment defines, develops, and delivers global equipment and technology solutions to unlock customer value for production-scale growers of large grains, small grains, cotton, and sugarcane. This segment's main products include large and certain mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, and soil preparation, seeding, application, and crop care equipment. The SAT segment defines, develops, and delivers global equipment and technology solutions to unlock customer value for dairy and livestock producers, high-value crop producers, and turf and utility customers. This segment's primary products include certain mid- size, utility, and compact utility tractors, as well as hay and forage equipment, riding and commercial lawn equipment, golf course equipment, and utility vehicles. The CF segment defines, develops, and delivers a broad range of machines and technology solutions organized along the earthmoving, forestry, and roadbuilding production systems. This segment's primary products include crawler dozers and loaders, four-wheel-drive loaders, excavators, skid-steer loaders, milling machines, and log harvesters. The products and services produced by the segments above are marketed through independent retail dealer networks and major retail outlets. For roadbuilding products in certain markets outside the U.S. and Canada, the products are sold through the company-owned sales and service subsidiaries. The FS segment finances sales and leases by John Deere dealers of new and used production and precision agriculture equipment, small agriculture and turf equipment, and construction and forestry equipment. In addition, the FS segment provides wholesale financing to dealers of the foregoing equipment, finances retail revolving charge accounts, and offers extended equipment warranties. Equipment Operations Production and Precision Agriculture The production and precision agriculture segment defines, develops, and delivers global equipment and technology solutions for production-scale growers of crops like large grains (such as corn and soy), small grains (such as wheat, oats, and barley), cotton, and sugarcane. Equipment manufactured and distributed by this segment includes large and certain mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers, cotton strippers, sugarcane harvesters, related harvesting front-end equipment, and pull-behind scrapers. In addition, this segment includes tillage, seeding, and application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management and soil preparation machinery. This segment invests in the development and production of advanced technology through integrated agricultural solutions and precision technologies across its portfolio of equipment. John Deere has developed a differentiated, production system-level approach that helps it understand how customers operate, focusing on their costs, identifying the opportunities for them to reduce inputs, and increasing productivity, yield improvement, and sustainability. This approach directs its work. Advancements, such as precise global navigation satellite systems technology, advanced connectivity and telematics, on-board sensors and computing power, automation software, digital tools, applications, and analytics provide seamless integration of information designed to improve customer decision-making and job execution. The company's advanced telematics systems remotely connect equipment owners, business managers, and dealers to equipment in the field. This provides real-time alerts and information about equipment location, utilization, performance, and maintenance to improve productivity and efficiency, as well as to monitor agronomic job execution. The company offers a wide variety of aftermarket and customer solutions to keep equipment running, including machine monitoring, remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance alerts, and e-commerce solutions. In addition to the John Deere brand names, the PPA segment offers sprayers under the Hagie and Mazzotti brand names, planters and cultivators under the Monosem brand name, sprayers and planters under the PLA brand name, and carbon fiber sprayer booms under the King Agro brand name. This segment also offers sugarcane harvester aftermarket parts under the Unimil brand name; and Aftermarket parts for PPA products under the Vapormatic, A&I, Unimil, Alternatives by John Deere brands. Small Agriculture and Turf The SAT segment defines, develops, and delivers global equipment and technology solutions designed to unlock customer value and sustainability for dairy and livestock producers, high-value crop producers, and turf and utility customers. This segment works to provide product leadership while extending integrated agricultural solutions and precision technologies across its portfolio of equipment to unlock incremental value for customers. Equipment manufactured and distributed by this segment includes certain mid-size, small and utility tractors, and related loaders and attachments; turf and utility equipment, including riding lawn equipment, commercial mowing equipment, golf course equipment, utility vehicles, implements for mowing, tilling, snow and debris handling, aerating, and other residential, commercial, golf, and sports turf care applications; and hay and forage equipment, including self-propelled forage harvesters and attachments, balers, and mowers. SAT equipment is sold primarily through independent retail dealer networks, although this segment also builds turf products for sale by mass retailers, including The Home Depot and Lowe's. The company's turf equipment is sold primarily in North American, Western European, and Australian markets. In the small agriculture market, the company has introduced autonomous solutions, connectivity capabilities, and a path to electrifying its future by delivering a portfolio that helps customers meet sustainability goals while finding innovative ways to serve new customers and unlock new markets for mechanization, at scale. For example, the company's joint venture with GUSS Automation, LLC in fiscal year 2022 added to its portfolio an autonomous sprayer to target its high value crop customers' needs. In fiscal year 2023 (year ended October 2, 2023), the company announced the acquisition of Smart Apply, Inc., a precision spraying equipment company. The Smart Apply Intelligent Spray Control System stacked with GUSS Automation's remote sprayer is aimed at the needs of the company's high-value crop customers to improve their productivity and optimize inputs. On the turf side of the business, in fiscal year 2023 the company launched two battery-powered walk behind mowers and announced certain hybrid innovations. In addition to the John Deere brand names, the SAT segment offers equipment attachments under the Frontier, Kemper, GreenSystem, and Smart Apply brand names; and Aftermarket parts for SAT under the Vapormatic, A&I, Sunbelt, and Alternatives by John Deere brands. Agriculture and Turf Operations Operating Model. John Deere's production and precision agriculture and small agriculture and turf segments together offer a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts. This segments are aligned around production systems, enabling focus on delivering equipment, technology, and solutions across all the jobs customers execute during a season. Sales and marketing support for both the production and precision agriculture and small agriculture and turf segments continues to be organized around four geographic customer focus areas. Business Environment. Sales of agricultural equipment are affected by total farm cash receipts, which reflect levels of farm commodity prices, acreage planted, crop yields, and government policies, including global trade policies, the amount and timing of government payments, and policies related to climate change. Other key factors affecting new agricultural equipment sales are the value and level of used equipment, including tractors, harvesting equipment, self-propelled sprayers, hay and forage equipment, and seeding equipment. Retail sales of lawn and garden tractors, compact utility tractors, residential and commercial mowers, utility vehicles, and golf and turf equipment are influenced by weather conditions, consumer spending patterns, and general economic conditions. Seasonality: Seasonal demand must be estimated in advance, and equipment must be manufactured in anticipation of such demand to achieve efficient utilization of personnel and facilities throughout the year. For certain equipment, John Deere offers early order programs, which can include discounts to retail customers that place orders well in advance of the use season. Production schedules are based, in part, on these early order programs; however, during periods of high demand, some factories may still produce after the use season. The production and precision agriculture and small agriculture and turf segments can incur substantial seasonal variations in cash flows to finance production and inventory of agricultural and turf equipment. Retail demand for turf and utility equipment is normally higher in the second and third fiscal quarters (year ended October 29, 2023). John Deere has pursued a strategy of building and shipping such equipment as close to retail demand as possible. Construction and Forestry The company's smart solutions, such as SmartWeigh, grade control offerings, machine and system automation, and operations center, are designed to allow customers to complete more functions with fewer inputs, reduce rework and guesswork, and transform data into insights to allow for better decisions. Obstacle detection solutions, such as SmartDetect supplements operator visibility on the jobsite through a combination of cameras, radar, and machine learning. Additionally, the company plans to deliver hybrid-electric and battery electric equipment solutions to help customers reduce tailpipe emissions without sacrificing power and performance. The company has the 644X four-wheel-drive loader and 944X four-wheel-drive loader in production with an electric drive coupled with a diesel engine. The company's primary construction products include excavators, wheel loaders, motor graders, dozers, backhoes, articulated dump trucks, compact construction equipment, including skid steers, compact excavators, and compact track loaders, along with a variety of attachments. The company's Wirtgen roadbuilding products include milling machines, pavers, compactors, rollers, crushers, screens, and asphalt plants. Similar to the construction product lineup, the Wirtgen brand also provides a technology stack aimed at allowing customers to make smarter and more sustainable decisions. Technology offerings include Wirtgen Performance Tracker, Mill Assist, Level Pro, Vögele Roadscan, Smart Compact, WITOS Paving, Spective Connect, AutoTrac, and John Deere Connected Support. In forestry, the company's primary products include skidders, wheeled and tracked feller bunchers, forwarders, knuckleboom loaders, wheeled and tracked harvesters, swing machines, and precision forestry technology solutions, such as Intelligent Boom Control, TimberMatic maps, and TimberManager. These solutions allow customers to closely track jobsite progress and provide visibility into fleet location, utilization, performance, and maintenance information. This segment has a number of initiatives in the rent-to-rent, or short-term rental, market for construction, earthmoving, roadbuilding, and material handling equipment. These include specially designed rental programs for the company's dealers and expanded cooperation with major national equipment rental companies. The company owns retail forestry sales operations in Australia, Brazil, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the Wirtgen Group sells its products primarily through company-owned sales and service subsidiaries in many markets worldwide (most significantly in Europe, India, and Australia). In most other geographies, the company sells through an independent dealer channel. The prevailing levels of residential, commercial, and public construction, investment in infrastructure, and the condition of the forestry products industry influence retail sales of the company's construction, roadbuilding, and forestry equipment. In addition to John Deere brand names, the CF segment offers roadbuilding equipment under the Wirtgen, Vögele, Hamm, Kleemann, Benninghoven, and Ciber brands; and forestry attachments under the Waratah brand name. Competition The competitive environment for the agriculture and turf operations includes some global competitors include AGCO Corporation; CLAAS KGaA mbH; CNH Industrial N.V.; Kubota Tractor Corporation; Mahindra & Mahindra Limited; and The Toro Company. Global competitors of the CF segment include Caterpillar Inc.; CNH Industrial N.V.; Doosan Infracore Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary Doosan Bobcat Inc.; Fayat Group; GOMACO Corporation; Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu Ltd.; Kubota Tractor Corporation; Ponsse Plc; SANY Group Co., Ltd.; Terex, Tigercat Industries Inc.; Volvo Construction Equipment (part of Volvo Group AB); and XCMG. Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets John Deere owns a significant number of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and intellectual property licenses related to the company's products and services and expects the number to grow as it continues to pursue technological innovations. Sales and Distribution In the U.S. and Canada, the equipment operations distribute equipment and service parts through the following facilities: two agriculture and turf equipment sales and administration offices located in Olathe, Kansas and Cary, North Carolina and one sales branch located in Grimsby, Ontario; one construction, earthmoving, material handling, and forestry equipment sales and administration office located in Moline, Illinois and one sales branch located in Grimsby, Ontario; and one roadbuilding equipment sales, service, and administration office located in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, the equipment operations operate two centralized parts distribution warehouses in coordination with nine regional parts depots and distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada. Through the U.S. and Canada, John Deere markets products to approximately 2,050 independent dealer locations. Of these, approximately 1,600 sell agricultural equipment, while approximately 450 sell construction, earthmoving, material handling, roadbuilding, and/or forestry equipment. In addition, roadbuilding equipment is sold at approximately 90 roadbuilding-only locations that may carry products that compete with John Deere's construction, earthmoving, material handling, and/or forestry equipment. Turf equipment is sold at most John Deere agricultural equipment locations, a few construction, earthmoving, material handling, roadbuilding, and/or forestry equipment locations, and about 280 turf-only locations, many of which also sell dissimilar lines of non-John Deere products. In addition, certain lawn and garden product lines are sold through The Home Depot and Lowe's. Outside the U.S. and Canada, the company's agriculture and turf equipment is sold to distributors and dealers for resale in over 100 countries. Sales and administrative offices are in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Turf equipment sales outside the U.S. and Canada occur primarily in Western Europe and Australia. Construction, earthmoving, material handling, and forestry equipment is sold to distributors and dealers primarily by sales offices located in Australia, Brazil, Finland, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Some of these dealers are independently owned while John Deere owns others. Roadbuilding equipment is sold both directly to retail customers, as well as to independent distributors and dealers for resale. As of November 1, 2022, the company did not renew dealer agreements in Russia, and in October 2023, it sold its roadbuilding business in Russia. Consequently, the company no longer sells equipment in Russia. The Wirtgen Group operates the company-owned sales and service subsidiaries in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The equipment operations operate centralized parts distribution warehouses in the U.S., Brazil, and Germany in coordination with regional parts depots and distribution centers in Argentina, Australia, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. John Deere markets engines, power trains, and electronic components worldwide through select sales branches or directly to regional and global original equipment manufacturers and independently owned engine distributors. Financial Services U.S. and Canada: The financial services segment primarily provides and administers financing for retail purchases from John Deere dealers of new equipment manufactured by John Deere's production and precision agriculture, small agriculture and turf, construction and forestry segments, and used equipment taken in trade for this equipment. The company and John Deere Construction & Forestry Company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company) are referred to as the sales companies. John Deere Capital Corporation (Capital Corporation), a U.S. financial services subsidiary, generally purchases retail installment sales and loan contracts (retail notes) from the sales companies. These retail notes are acquired by the sales companies through John Deere retail dealers in the U.S. John Deere Financial Inc., a Canadian financial services subsidiary, purchases and finances retail notes acquired by John Deere Canada ULC, John Deere's Canadian sales company. The financial services segment also finances and services revolving charge accounts, in most cases acquired from and offered through merchants in the agriculture and turf and construction and forestry markets (revolving charge accounts). Additionally, the financial services operations provide wholesale financing to dealers of John Deere agriculture and turf equipment and construction and forestry equipment (wholesale notes), primarily to finance inventories of equipment for those dealers. The various financing options offered by the financial services operations are designed to enhance sales of John Deere products and generate financing income for the financial services operations. In the U.S. and Canada, certain subsidiaries included in the financial services segment offer extended equipment warranties. Retail notes acquired by the sales companies are immediately sold to the financial services operations. The equipment operations are the financial services operations' major source of business, although many retail purchasers of John Deere products finance their purchases outside the John Deere organization through a variety of sources, including commercial banks and finance and leasing companies. The financial services operations offer retail leases to equipment users in the U.S. A small number of leases are executed with units of local governments. Leases are usually written for periods ranging from less than one year to seven years, and typically contain an option permitting the customer to purchase the equipment at the end of the lease term. Retail leases are also offered in a generally similar manner to customers in Canada through John Deere Financial Inc. and John Deere Canada ULC. The financial services operations' terms for financing equipment retail sales (other than smaller items financed with unsecured revolving charge accounts) generally provide for retention of a security interest in the equipment financed. The financial services operations' guidelines for minimum down payments, which vary with the types of equipment financed and repayment provisions, generally range from 0 percent to 20 percent of the purchase price. Finance charges are sometimes waived for specified periods or reduced on certain John Deere products sold or leased in advance of the season of use or in other sales promotions. The financial services operations generally receive compensation from the sales companies at approximate market interest rates for periods during which finance charges are waived or reduced on the retail notes or leases. The company has an agreement with Capital Corporation to make payments to Capital Corporation such that its consolidated ratio of earnings to fixed charges is not less than 1.05 to 1 for any fiscal quarter. The company has also committed to continuing to own, directly or through one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries, at least 51 percent of the voting shares of capital stock of Capital Corporation. As of October 29, 2023, the company indirectly owned 100 percent of the voting shares of Capital Corporation's capital stock. Outside the U.S. and Canada: The financial services operations also offer financing, primarily for John Deere products, in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, and in several other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. John Deere Financial sold its financial services business in Russia during the second quarter of fiscal year 2023. In certain markets, financing is offered through cooperation agreements or joint ventures with other financial institutions. The way the financial services operations offer financing in these countries is affected by a variety of country-specific laws, regulations, and customs, including those governing property rights and debtor obligations, which are subject to change and which may introduce greater risk to the financial services operations. The financial services operations also offer to select customers and dealers credit enhanced international export financing primarily for the purchase of the company's products. History Deere & Company was founded in 1837. The company was incorporated under the laws of Delaware in 1958.