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The John Deere logo is probably recognised by anyone in agriculture, but a 2014 Top 100 of Global Brands and their perceived values produced by Interbrand showed JD was even recognised by the greater public, coming in at 79th position with a value of $5.12 billion.
Surprisingly, there were no other recognised brands with an agricultural leaning other than Caterpillar, probably better known for its construction equipment, that came in at 61st with a value of $6.8b.
No surprises then to see Apple as the most recognised brand (value $118b), Toyota 43rd ($43b), Mercedes 10th ($34.2b) and Ford down at 39th ($10.8b).
Interestingly, the readily recognised ‘leaping deer’ was first registered by Deere in 1876 when it was more locally known as The Moline Plow Company, its core business producing about 60,000 ploughs a year.
The original trademark showed a deer bounding over a log – a huge mistake by the designer because it featured an African deer not the Native American white tailed deer that appeared in later versions of the trademark.
Deere has updated its logo about six times since the late 19th century. The last change in 2000 was to a deer with its hind legs planted firmly on the ground, signifying the heritage and roots of the company, while the leaping deer with raised front legs captured the essence of a company moving boldly into the new millennium.
What’s certain is that the next time this logo gets a tweak it won’t cost $26 million and will always feature the leaping deer.
While tractors combines and machinery for agriculture and construction is still its key business, John Deere appears to be taking opportunities in the hightech sector via acquisition, with the recent purchase of Sentera, a Minnesota-based company that specialises in equipment for capturing and interpreting aerial images.
John Deere have recently announced upgrades to its round baler offerings, with all models of this latest generation equipped with advanced ISOBUS capabilities, allowing them to be fully integrated into the John Deere Operations Center.
With agriculture in New Zealand coming out of the doldrums over the last few months and the recent announcement of a 20% tax write-off for capital purchases, it likely that farmers will be spending on tractors.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
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