Already an established blacksmith, Deere opened a 1,378-square-foot (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 tools such as pitchforks and shovels.

In early 1843, Deere entered a business partnership with Leonard Andrus[9] and purchased land for the construction of a new, two-story factory along the Rock River in Illinois.

[11] At that time, the company was manufacturing a variety of farm equipment products in addition to plows, including wagons, corn planters, and cultivators.

[14] John Deere served as president of the company until his retirement in April 1886, but died one month later in May 1886 in Moline, Illinois.

In 1869, Charles began to introduce marketing centers and independent retail dealers to advance the company's sales nationwide.

This featured improvements and modifications to Model D such as higher power level due to increased cylinder bore.

Before Wiman returned to work at the company in late 1944, he directed the farm machinery and equipment division of the War Production Board.

[41] Also, with the green line, the Argentinian facility made some backhoe loaders and motor graders like 570 A/B,[42] 544 A/B,[43] 507, 308, 200[44] and the 627, 727 model tractors.

On August 30, 1960, John Deere dealers from around the world converged on Dallas, Texas, for an unprecedented product showcase.

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.

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 salespeople from all over the United States and Canada to Love Field in Dallas.

Although the 4020, which was available with Deere's optional Power Shift, enjoyed greater popularity, the 4010 moved John Deere into the modern era of farm tractor technology and design following its successful history as a tractor manufacturer that was by the late 1950s experiencing waning market share due to its outdated technology.

This insulated cab that included a roll-over protective structure had a distinctive rounded windshield and came equipped with heat and air conditioning, as well as speakers for an optional radio.

The 4240, 4440, 4640, and 4840 featured a new 466-cubic-inch displacement engine, and improvements to the cab including an optional hydraulic seat for a smoother ride.

They offered a new 15-speed PowerShift transmission and were available with an optional mechanical front-wheel drive featuring caster action for better traction and a tighter turning radius.

In the 1980s, these combines were followed by the 4420, 6620, 7720, and 8820 that were essentially updated and improved versions of the previous models with larger capacity, a better cab, and easier maintenance and service.

[21] In 2014, the Smithsonian Museum named John Deere's original plough design as one of the objects that changed American history.

In August 2014, the company announced it was indefinitely laying off 600 of its workers at plants in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas due to less demand for its products.

The company's agricultural products are identifiable by a distinctive shade of green paint, with the inside border being yellow.

In September 2017, Deere & Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Blue River Technology, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, and is applying machine learning to agriculture.

Blue River has designed and integrated computer vision and machine learning technology that will enable growers to reduce the use of herbicides by spraying only where weeds are present.

It was part of a larger effort to develop so-called smart machines to make farming faster and more efficient than it would be relying on human labor, including through software, which would mean higher margins.

The company said it wanted to "connect 1.5 million machines in service and a half billion acres in use to its cloud-based John Deere Operations Center.

In July 2024, Deere announced it would lay off 600 employees in its midwest facilities and is considering moving the production of some components to Mexico.

[84] In January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit against Deere over the company's restrictive repair policies.

Construction equipment includes: John Deere manufactures a range of forestry machinery, among others, harvesters, forwarders, skidders, feller bunchers and log loaders.

Other products the company manufactures include consumer and commercial equipment such as lawn mowers, compact utility tractors, snow throwers, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and StarFire (a wide-area differential GPS).

The first issue was mailed in early November 1984 to 135 paid subscribers and had 10 black-and-white pages with features on tractors, letters from readers, and advertisements.