2025 Begins With More Ag Industry Layoffs in Iowa

By Ryan Hanrahan

Just a few days into the New Year, the trend in layoffs at agriculture-related companies is continuing, with John Deere announcing layoffs at its Ottumwa, Iowa, plant and Bridgestone-Firestone announcing it is offering buyouts at its agricultural tire plant in Des Moines.

Agriculture Dive’s Nathan Owens reported that “as crop farmers struggle with income declines, agricultural equipment manufacturers have actively reduced production in an attempt to align inventory levels with customer demand. Deere, AGCO, and others are expecting challenging conditions through at least the first half of 2025.”

Deere & Co. Layoffs

Owens reported that “Deere & Co. is laying off dozens of workers at a production plant in Ottumwa, Iowa, after struggling with tractor and equipment sales in recent months.”

“Approximately 75 workers, or 13% of the plant’s workforce, will lose their jobs effective Feb. 7, according to a recent WARN notice,” Owens reported. “The Ottumwa plant just reopened after closing for the month of December due to sluggish demand for hay and forage equipment, the Des Moines Register reported.”

“‘To remain globally competitive, we must continue making workforce adjustments as needed to our manufacturing footprint,’ a Deere spokesperson told Agriculture Dive via email. Currently, 575 people work at Deere’s Ottumwa Works plant, according to a spokesperson.”

The Des Moines Register’s Kevin Baskins reported that “the latest cut by the Fortune 500 agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer marks the 15th announced layoff over the past year by Deere. Based in Moline, Illinois, in the Quad Cities, it operates plants across Iowa, where the layoffs have affected 1,866 workers at facilities in Waterloo, Davenport, Dubuque, Ankeny, Johnston, Urbandale, and Ottumwa.”

Bridgestone-Firestone Buyouts

Baskins then reported in a different article on Thursday that “Bridgestone notified United Steel Workers Local 310L on Monday that it would make the voluntary separation offers for up to 130 employees ‘due to ongoing demand constraints in the agriculture tire sector.’ Employees who take the buyout will get $35,000, said Keenan Bell, president of the local.”

“As of Thursday afternoon, Bell said he believed 112 workers had indicated an interest in taking the buyout. If a full 130 workers don’t accept the offer by the end of January, layoffs or furloughs could make up the difference, he said,” Baskins reported. “‘We obviously don’t like seeing layoffs but I don’t think Bridgestone does, either, due to the difficulty we’ve had in the past filling positions,’ he said, adding that from 2021 to 2024, the plant made about 900 new hires but retained only 200 of those workers.”

“In a prepared statement, the company said, ‘Bridgestone regularly evaluates all aspects of its business to ensure we remain competitive and that resources are allocated in a manner that best supports our business strategy. Bridgestone will continue to monitor current market conditions and future forecasts across all of our businesses to review production schedules and adjust as conditions warrant,’” according to Baskins’ reporting.

“The Des Moines plant manufactures tires for large agricultural and forestry equipment, so its orders are entirely dependent on those two sectors of the economy, Bell said,” according to Baskins’ reporting. “‘It’s been fairly slow since just before last summer,’ he said.”

2025 Begins with More Ag Industry Layoffs in Iowa was originally published by Farmdoc.