. for the person see john deere inventor . for the tractor see list of john deere tractors . deere & company john deere world headquarters in moline illinois type public traded as nyse de s & p 500 component industry heavy equipment founded grand detour illinois 1837 1837 1 founder john deere headquarters moline illinois united states area served worldwide key people sam allen ceo and president products agriculture construction forestry consumer & commercial equipment diesel engines automobiles services financial services revenue us 37.795 billion 2013 2 operating income us 5.415 billion 2013 2 net income us 3.537 billion 2013 2 total assets us 56.04 billion 2016 3 total equity us 10.267 billion 2013 2 number of employees 67 000 2013 2 website www.deere.com deere & company brand name john deere is an american corporation that manufactures agricultural construction and forestry machinery diesel engines drivetrains axles transmissions gearboxes used in heavy equipment and lawn care equipment . in 2016 it was listed as 97th in the fortune 500 america s ranking and was ranked 364th in the fortune global 500 ranking in 2016 . 4 5 john deere also provides financial services and other related activities . deere is listed on the new york stock exchange under the symbols de . 6 the company s slogan is nothing runs like a deere and its logo is a leaping deer with the words john deere under it . the logo of the leaping deer has been used by this company for over 155 years . over the years the logo has had minor changes and pieces removed . some of the older style logos have the deer leaping over a log . 7 8 the company uses different logo colors for agricultural vs. construction products . the company s agricultural products are identifiable by a distinctive shade of green paint augmented by yellow trim . contents 1 19th century 2 20th century 3 21st century 4 products 4.1 agricultural equipment 4.2 construction equipment 4.3 forestry equipment 4.4 other products 5 factories 6 equipment divisions 7 subsidiaries and affiliates 8 pop culture 9 sponsorships 10 controversies 11 green magazine 12 see also 13 references 14 further reading 15 external links 19th century edit deere & company began when john deere born in rutland vermont usa on february 7 1804 moved to grand detour illinois in 1836 in order to escape bankruptcy in vermont . already an established blacksmith deere opened a 1 378 square feet 128 m2 shop in grand detour in 1837 which allowed him to serve as a general repairman in the village as well as a manufacturer of small tools such as pitchforks and shovels . small tools was just a start the item that set him apart was the self scouring steel plow which was pioneered in 1837 when john deere fashioned a scottish steel saw blade into a plow . prior to deere s steel plow most farmers used iron or wooden plows that the rich midwestern soil stuck to and had to be cleaned frequently . the smooth sided steel plow solved this problem and greatly aided migration into the american great plains in the 19th and early 20th century . the traditional way of doing business was to make the product as and when it was ordered . this style was very slow and as deere realized that this wasn t going to be a viable business model so he increased the rate of production by manufacturing plows before putting them up for sale this allowed customers to not only see what they were buying beforehand but allowed his customers to purchase his products straight away . word of his products began to spread quickly . in 1842 deere entered a business partnership with leonard andrus and purchased land for the construction of a new two story factory along the rock river in illinois . this factory named the l. andrus plough manufacturer produced about 100 plows in 1842 and approximately 400 plows during the next year . deere s partnership with andrus ended in 1848 and deere relocated to moline illinois in order to have access to the railroad and the mississippi river . there deere formed a partnership with robert tate and john gould and built a 1 440 square feet 134 m2 factory the same year . production rose quickly and by 1849 the deere tate & gould company was producing over 200 plows a month . a two story addition to the plant was built allowing further production . logo of the company used between 1876 and 1912 deere bought out tate and gould s interests in the company in 1853 and was joined in the business by his son charles deere . at that time the company was manufacturing a variety of farm equipment products in addition to plows ; including wagons corn planters and cultivators . in 1857 the company s production totals reached almost 1 120 implements per month . in 1858 a nationwide financial recession took a toll on the company . to prevent bankruptcy the company was reorganized and deere sold his interests in the business to his son in law christopher webber and his son charles deere who would take on most of his father s managerial roles . john deere served as president of the company until 1886 . the company was reorganized again in 1868 when it was incorporated as deere & company . while the company s original stockholders were charles deere stephen velie george vinton and john deere charles effectively ran the company . in 1869 charles began to introduce marketing centers and independent retail dealers to advance the company s sales nationwide . this same year deere & company won best and greatest display of plows in variety at the 17th annual illinois state fair for which it won 10 and a silver medal . 9 the core focus remained on the agricultural implements but john deere apparently also made a few bicycles in the 90 s. citation needed 20th century edit john deere plow & cultivators co. s new orleans house 1903 increased competition during the early 1900s from the new international harvester company led the company to expand its offerings in the implement business but it was the production of gasoline tractors which would come to define deere & company s operations during the twentieth century . logo of the company used between 1912 and 1936 in 1912 deere & company president william butterworth charles son in law who had replaced charles deere after his death in 1907 began the company s expansion into the tractor business . deere & company briefly experimented with its own tractor models the most successful of which was the dain all wheel drive but in the end decided to continue its foray into the tractor business by purchasing the waterloo gasoline engine company in 1918 which manufactured the popular waterloo boy tractor at its facilities in waterloo iowa . deere & company continued to sell tractors under the waterloo boy name until 1923 when the john deere model d was introduced . the company still manufactures most of its tractors in waterloo iowa . the company produced its first combine harvester the john deere no. 2 in 1927 . a year later this innovation was followed up by the introduction of john deere no. 1 a smaller machine that was more popular with customers . by 1929 the no. 1 and no. 2 were replaced by newer lighter weight harvesters . in the 1930s john deere and other farm equipment manufacturers began developing hillside harvesting technology . harvesters now had the ability to effectively use their combines to harvest grain on hillsides with up to a 50 % slope gradient . 10 on an episode of the travel channel series made in america that profiled deere & company host john ratzenberger stated that the company never repossessed any equipment from american farmers during the great depression . 11 during world war ii the great grandson of john deere charles deere wiman was president of the company but he accepted a commission as a colonel in the u.s. army . a replacement was hired and before returning to work at the company in late 1944 wiman directed the farm machinery and equipment division of the war production board . 12 in addition to farm machinery john deere manufactured military tractors and transmissions for the m3 tank . they also made aircraft parts ammunition and mobile laundry units to support the war effort . 13 in 1947 john deere introduced its first self propelled combine the model 55 . it was soon followed by the smaller models 40 and 45 the larger model 95 and an even larger model 105 was introduced in the 1960s . in the mid 1950s deere introduced attachable corn heads allowing crop producers to cut shell and clean corn in one smooth operation . 10 in 1956 deere & company bought out the german tractor manufacturer heinrich lanz ag see lanz bulldog . a john deere lanz 700 tractor on august 30 1960 john deere dealers from around the world converged on dallas texas for an unprecedented product showcase . deere day in dallas as the event was called introduced the world to the new generation of power the company s first modern four cylinder and six cylinder tractors during a day packed with high tech presentations live demonstrations and of course a parking lot full of brand new green and yellow machines . the line of tractors introduced that day was five years in the making and the event itself took months to plan . deere chose dallas to host the event partly because it was home to facilities large enough to accommodate the 6 000 guests and the equipment they were all there to see . the dallas memorial auditorium the texas state fairgrounds coliseum the cotton bowl and the cotton bowl parking lot were each the site of part of the event . during the event a new john deere tractor with a diamond covered nameplate was displayed for all to see inside neiman marcus a popular dallas based department store . according to information released by the company at the time of the event john deere dealers and key employees came to dallas via the largest commercial airlift of its type ever attempted . during the 24 hours leading up to the event 16 airlines brought deere employees and sales people from all over the united states and canada to love field in dallas . bill hewitt then chairman and ceo of deere & company welcomed the dealers and introduced the new tractors . hewitt told the guests they were about to see a line of entirely new tractors completely modern in every respect with outstanding features not duplicated in any other make of tractor . since entering the tractor business in 1918 john deere had focused on two cylinder machines . the new generation of power introduced at deere day in dallas was very different from anything deere had built before . the new line of four and six cylinder tractors the model 1010 2010 3010 and 4010 were more far more powerful than deere s two cylinder models and also easier and more comfortable to operate with conveniently located controls better visibility and improved seat suspension . these new tractors were also easier to service . 14 the 4010 was rated at 80 horsepower in 1960 but tested at 84 horsepower during testing trials making it one of the most powerful two wheel drive farm tractors at that time . the 4010 was the predecessor to the 4020 which is widely regarded as the most popular tractor ever produced by john deere and perhaps any tractor manufacturer in the united states . although the 4020 which was available with deere s optional power shift enjoyed greater popularity it was the 4010 that