Record collapse in farm income projected by the USDA for U.S. farmers in 2024 is causing Big Ag companies to close facilities. They are attributed to a major fall in demand for farm equipment in the U.S., as the USDA projects inflation adjusted net farm income (NFI) is expected to decrease by $43.1 billion (27.1%) in 2024 compared to 2023, which is the largest one-year farm income drop in U.S. history. Statistically, that is because their income last year was high, but the whipsaw effect of extreme swings—the norm in the unregulated, monopoly cartel-dominated economy—is untenable for farmers. Dairy farmers, especially, are being driven out of operation. Higher production costs, including fertilizer, insecticide, interest, and land rents, combined with lower projected grain prices, will have a major impact on farm income.
John Deere, the world’s biggest farm machinery maker, is shrinking its operation, announcing 600 more layoffs this week, attributed to falling demand for its agriculture equipment and operations. Its operations in China, however, are intact and likely expanding. John Deere was also frozen out by Washington from even supplying spare parts to Russia and other nations in recent years. The 600-plus layoffs will take effect as of Aug. 30 in Quad Cities and Dubuque. In 2023, John Deere had about 83,000 workers on six continents.
Deere’s China operations are going strong. The 70,000th tractor produced by John Deere Tianjin Works is the NR4 6M-2104 model newly launched in FY23. John Deere Tianjin Works is the production facility not just for China domestic market but it exports to other global regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In fact, around 50% of its total sales volume comes from export business and it increases by the year. In Asia, tractors are the key product shipped from Tianjin Works and farmers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand are achieving more with less, thanks to these powerful tractors.
Tyson is shutting down meat-processing plants. Over the last 12 months, Tyson Foods, the largest meat and poultry producer in the U.S., is shutting down six chicken plants in Arkansas, Indiana, and Missouri, to cut costs, creating a blow to small communities in the U.S. heartland that depend on the meatpacker for nearly 4,700 jobs. These meat plants are located in rural communities with low populations, and the shutdowns will hurt the communities badly. About 29 large chicken production farms that supply the facilities, along with many farmer grain growers that produce the grain for chicken feed, will be hit.
