John Deere Research Paper

“And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.” Agriculture has provided food for the U.S. for hundreds of years and at one time was one of America's main industries. When someone hears the term farm or farmer, they think of all kinds of livestock , crops and a tractor. But, that is not what the term farm or farmer really means in today's world of grain, hog, cattle, sheep, chicken, horse , and many other types of farms. Rarely do you find what most people think of a farm. In the winter of 1957-1958 two brothers that dairy farmed in Minnesota, looking for more horsepower, built a lime green 4x4 tractor out of truck parts. Later in the 1970s they became known as Steiger

Some tractor brands were still around but they were owned by another company; and other brands faded out totally. There are a few short line companies running today such as; Kubota and Kioti, but only John Deere, CNH, and AGCO remains of the original eight from the 1960s (Gustafson 10). However, for the last 50 years John Deere has managed to stay green and not be bought out. Only did they add a short line company every now and the such as Frontier equipment (Gustafson 11). AGCO is at the top of the list for consolidations. It started with a management buyout in 1990 of Deutz Allis from KHD. After that, AGCO was making and selling farm machinery under the GLEANER and AGCO ALLIS names. It started as a less than $300 million in annual sales business and escalated to a $6 billion in annual sales business and has lasted for over 15 years (Gustafson 15). AGCO bought WHITE- NEW IDEA in 93 for their planter , hay equipment, and manure spreaders. Also in 93, AGCO bought Massey-Ferguson North American distribution rights. Which broadened AGCOs American dealership network by 1000or more dealerships (Gustafson 16). In 94 AGCO bought an

(“Historical” 60). In 1954, there were more tractors on farms than horses or mules to do the work for the first time in history (“Historical” 62).By the Mid 50s most farms had a tractor, a truck, a self propelled combine, a 14 ft drill, a 10 ft plow, and a 12 ft cultivator; therefore, with this amount of technology, it took about 6 ½ hours of labor to make 100 bushels of wheat, which was 4 acres (“Historical” 63). Anhydrous ammonia was becoming a more popular source of nitrogen to boost corn yields, this was during the late 50s (“Historical” 64). By 1960, 25.8 people was what one farmer supplied in the U.S. (“Historical”67). To make 100 bushels or 3 acres of wheat in 1965, it required about 5 hrs of labor, a tractor, a 14 ft self propelled combine, a truck, a 12 ft plow, and a 14 ft drill (“Historical” 68). By the 1970s, No-Till agriculture had came about and was being used heavily (“Historical” 71). One farmer provided for 47.7 people in the U.S. by 1970 (“Historical” 72). In 1975 a tractor, a truck, a 30 ft sweep disk, a 27 ft drill, and a 22 ftt self propelled combine could produce 3 acres or 100 bushels of wheat with 3 ¾ hours of labor. To make 100 bushels of corn, 1 ⅛ acres, with a few trucks, a 12 ft self propelled combine, a tractor with a 5-btm plow, a 20 ft tandem disk, a planter, and a 20 ft sprayer it required 3 ⅓ labor hours (“Historical” 74). In the 1980s more and more farmers were using no-till or