DES MOINES – Following reports that John Deere will lay off 119 workers at its Ankeny works Friday morning, Chair Rita issued the following statement:

“Over 100 Iowa families got devastating news from John Deere in Ankeny this morning. Iowans need our leaders in both Washington and Des Moines to focus on growing our economy and getting prices down, but they seem more intent on giving tax breaks to companies that lay off workers than standing up for regular Iowans.”

Background:

From the Iowa Farm Bureau:

• Fiscal Year 2024 was the worst period of profitability for Iowa farmers in 10 years.
• Farm equipment manufacturers, food processors and other ag-related businesses are projected to cut up to 11,400 jobs and slash $1.5 billion from Iowa’s economy.
• Ag’s economic downturn is also expected to chop $100 million in taxes to state and local governments.
• As of Sept. 18, 23 Iowa farm production companies had eliminated 4,097 jobs.
• John Deere alone had already cut 2,600 jobs in Iowa and on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities.
• After reaching record highs in 2022, U.S. net farm income has fallen nearly 24% during the past two years due to slumping commodity prices and stubbornly high input costs.
• This has been felt hard in Iowa as net cash farm income from corn and beans plummeted to the lowest level in 15 years.
• Net cash farm income fell 38% for corn and 40% for soybeans in 2024 compared to a year earlier.

How did we get here?

• During the 2021 through 2023 period roughly 85% of farm income was received, generated, and obtained by 7.5% of the 1.9 million farms in the country.
• In 2024, the USDA is projecting $116 billion in net cash farm income, compared to $155 billion in 2023.
• Around 150,000 farms receive 85% of the income, leaving well over a million small family-owned farms in a lurch.

Who has been laid off?

• John Deere announced it’s laying off 75 workers, or 13% of its workforce in Ottumwa effective Feb. 7.
• 112 John Deere workers have been laid off in Waterloo, and 80 John Deere workers have been laid off in Davenport.
• Bridgestone notified United Steel Workers Local 310L in Des Moines it would make voluntary separation offers for up to 130 workers “due to ongoing demand constraints in the agriculture sector.”
• 53 workers from Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg were laid off in January of 2025. In 2024, 193 workers were let go from the Williamsburg plant.
•  1,276 manufacturing jobs in Perry were lost when Tyson announced it was closing its plant in March.