Deere lays off 220 employees, citing sales drop

MOLINE — Deere & Co. is laying off about 220 workers from its Seeding and Cylinder operation in its hometown as agricultural machinery sales slump.

The Moline-based company said Monday that the layoffs, effective Feb. 15, are unlike past seasonal layoffs. The new job cuts have no specific call-back date for workers.

Deere employs about 60,000 people globally, about 29,000 in the United States and Canada.

Commodity prices have declined over the past three years, leading to weaker sales of farming machinery.

Sales of Deere’s agriculture equipment, which include tractors, fell 25 percent it its most recent quarter. Falling oil prices also have affected the company’s construction equipment sales.

The company expects sales of its equipment to fall 7 percent in fiscal 2016.