Planters plant seed of economic hope

Job losses are making national, state, and local headlines on a daily basis. Not all is doom and gloom on the job front, however. A recent tour of the John Deere Seeding Division plant in Moline, Ill., revealed business is still brisk. At that plant, located in the heart of John Deere operations, some 700 employees are working about ten hours a day, six days a week to meet planter demand. The added plus for the company, those planters are all sold to farmers, so they must be assembled before the spring planting season. Planters range from those destined to plant cotton, corn, soybeans, and even sugar beets. Planter size varies greatly, as well . . . from 4-row planters all the way up to those with 32 rows.

For many farm equipment manufacturers, business is still bustling as companies work to fill last years orders following a few years of extremely favorable crop prices. However, reports indicate that future sales are uncertain due to recent fluctuations in crop prices and concerns about the overall economy.