Lower commodity prices and falling farm incomes are putting pressure on sales of new farm machinery, especially for larger tractors and machines, and are blamed for the 17% fall in John Deere’s worldwide turnover for the first quarter of this year to US$6.383 billion. “Deere’s first-quarter performance reflects sluggish conditions in the global farm sector,” says chairman and CEO Samuel R. Allen. John Deere equipment sales are projected to decrease about 17% during the rest of this year, but the company expects to remain solidly profitable in 2015. Conditions are more positive in the US livestock sector, supporting the sale of smaller sizes of equipment. Based on these factors, industry sales for agricultural equipment in the US and Canada are forecast to drop by 25-30% during 2015. The company expects lower crop prices and incomes and pressure in the dairy sector to lower full-year 2015 industry sales in the EU28 by around 10%. In South America, industry sales of tractors and combines are projected to be down 10-15% mainly as a result of economic uncertainty in Brazil, while Asian sales are projected to be down slightly, with most of the decline occurring in China and India. Falling demand for new tractors and machines has already seen the company make workforce adjustments at several factories in Iowa and Illinois, where some 900 jobs are currently being axed. Longer term, the John Deere top man reckons the company’s future continues to hold great promise for customers and investors. “Global population growth and rising living standards are powerful trends largely unaffected by periodic swings in the farm economy. At the same time, our plans for reaching out to new markets and customer groups are making progress. For these reasons, we remain confident about the company’s ability to deliver solid returns throughout the business cycle and to benefit from the world’s need for productive equipment in the future.”