The History of John Deere Company

The world's first best-selling, soil-free steel plow was built by John Deere. His story is closely tied to the immigration and development of the American Midwest. American farmers in the 19th century called the Midwest the golden land of hope.

John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804. He spent his youth in Middlebury, Vermont, and served as an apprentice for four years after completing public school courses. Learn the blacksmith trade.

The famous blacksmith

In 1825, he became a blacksmith and began his career. Soon he became famous for his exquisite craftsmanship.

His highly polished pitchforks and shovels were sold throughout western Vermont. But business in Vermont turned depressed in the 1830s, and the future was not optimistic for the young and promising blacksmith. Many Vermonters immigrated to the west, and the stories of successful entrepreneurship that came back to Vermont aroused John Deere's enthusiasm. He decided to sell his store and join the ranks of western pioneers.

He said goodbye to his wife and children and headed west with tools and a small amount of cash, and his family later moved west. After several weeks of trekking by water and land, he arrived at the village of Big Detour, Illinois, where Leonard Andrews and other Vermonters had arrived. The area was in dire need of a blacksmith, and within two days of his arrival in 1836, he had already built a forge and was busy serving the community.

Cast iron plows were not suited to Midwestern soil

There was much work to be done, such as shoeing cattle and horses, repairing plows and other equipment. From local pioneers, he learned about the difficulties encountered in cultivating the fertile soil of the Midwest: the cast-iron plows brought from the east were adapted to the loose, sandy soil of New England, and the fertile Midwestern soil stuck to the plow body. , the clay needs to be wiped off after every few steps. Farming often means an inefficient and laborious process. Many pioneers were frustrated and considered going further west, or turning back east.

After studying this problem, John Deere firmly believed that if the moldboard and plowshare were highly polished and the shape of the plate was suitable, the plow should be able to clean up by itself when plowing the land. He built such a plow in 1837 out of steel from broken saw blades and successfully conducted field tests on Lewis Crandall's farmland near Grande Tours.

Steel Plows Adapted to the Needs of the Prairies

The steel plows manufactured by Deere proved to be the right tools for pioneer farmers to farm in the "West," but his impact on the development of American agriculture The contribution goes far beyond the invention of a suitable and best-selling steel plow.

At that time, blacksmiths only produced products after users placed orders. But John Deere produced a batch of plows before receiving an order and then sold them in the countryside. This was completely different from the manufacturing business practices of the early pioneer era. This new approach quickly popularized John Deere's "auto-manufactured" approach. Cleaning the Plow”.

Importing steel from the UK

Opening factories in newly reclaimed areas faces many problems, such as few banks, inconvenient transportation, and lack of steel. John Deere initially had no choice but to use whatever steel he could find to make his plows. In 1843, he ordered specially rolled steel from England. After the freighter sailed across the Atlantic, the steel was transported by liner across the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and then transported by horse-drawn carriage 40 miles overland to the plow-making plant in Big Detour. Small factory.

In 1846, the first cast steel moldboard ever rolled in the United States was manufactured for John Deere. The steel plate was shipped from Pittsburgh to Moline, Illinois. Moline is close to the Mississippi River, with abundant water resources and convenient transportation. John Deere's factory moved to Moline in 1848.

Adhere to high quality and focus on research and development

Ten years after producing the first plow, John Deere was manufacturing 1,000 plows per year. In the early years of the company's existence, John Deere laid down several principles for conducting business, and these principles have been faithfully implemented ever since. One of them was his insistence on high quality standards. John Deere vowed, "I will never put my name on a product that does not reflect the best performance."

One of his early partners chided him for constantly changing designs, saying it was redundant work because farmers had to buy whatever they produced. Deere is said to have replied: "They don't have to buy our product, someone else could beat us and we would lose business.

"In its history, Deere & Company has always placed great emphasis on product development and improvement, and its investment in product research and development has always accounted for a higher percentage of profits than most companies in the industry. In 1868, Deere's business portfolio became Deere & Company. Chapter 1 The following year, John Deere's son Charles was elected vice president and treasurer. Charles later succeeded John as president.

Charles Deere expanded the company's size.

Charles Deere. With outstanding business acumen, he established the branch as a marketing center to serve a network of independent retail dealers. When Charles Deere died in 1907, the company was producing a line of steel plows, cultivators, corn and cotton planters, and other farm implements. During the tenure of Deere's third president, William Butterworth, six non-competitive agricultural equipment companies joined Deere in 1911, making Deere a full-line agricultural equipment manufacturer. In 1918, the company acquired Ai. Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company in Iowa, and tractors became an important part of John Deere's product line

Emphasis on research and development

In 1928, John Deere's great-grandson Charles. Deere Weiman became president. During the development of modern agriculture, the company achieved rapid development due to his vigorous promotion of product research and development. Although the Great Depression swept the country in the 1930s, Deere's 100th anniversary was celebrated in 1937. During the Second World War, Weiman and wartime president Burton Peak still insisted on emphasizing product design, giving the company an advantage in the post-war market competition. Before Weiman's death in 1955, the company was firmly among the 100 largest manufacturing companies in the United States.

From 1955 to 1982, William Hewitt served as president. Under his leadership, John. Deere experienced one of its fastest growing periods. Deere established factories and marketing organizations outside the United States, becoming a leading global manufacturer of agricultural equipment and a major manufacturer of construction, forestry and lawn care equipment. p>

Robert Hansen succeeded Hewitt as CEO in 1982, having previously served as president and chief operating officer, and he led the company through one of its most difficult economic periods. Under his leadership, the company became a better company. A dynamic and flexible organization better able to cope with increasingly fierce global competition, the company achieved record sales and profits in the last three years of the turbulent 1980s.

Hans Beck. He was elected as chairman of the board of directors in 1990. During Hanson's tenure as chairman, Baker served as president and CEO. Baker personally participated in a number of projects that laid a solid foundation for the company to meet the challenges of the 1980s and beyond. During his long career, he devoted much of his time to developing the company's international operations. During his tenure as Chairman of the Board, Mr. Baker also led the redevelopment of downtown Moline and the development of TPC. Club) Deere Golf Course and John Deere Classic PGA event (Professional Golf Tour event). Baker retired in 2000.

When Mr. Baker retired in August 2000, Robert Lane was elected chairman of Deere & Company's board of directors. He has previously served as CEO and president. Mr. Lane has management experience in multiple areas at John Deere, including leading the global agricultural machinery, credit and equipment manufacturing divisions. Mr. Lane's diverse management experience, coupled with his strong background in the banking industry, positions him to help John Deere expand its preeminent position in global markets.