MARKET WATCH


EQUIPMENT John Deere and workers end strike with 6-year agreement


A five-week strike where about 10,000 Deere & Company workers pushed for improved wages and worker benefits ended when the International Union, United Automo- bile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) and Deere & Company, Moline, Illinois, ratified a new agreement Nov. 17, 2021. Te strike, which consisted of production and warehouse workers, impacted 14 facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas. Tis new, six-year contract was decided upon by both


parties after UAW declined two previous agreements. Sixty- one percent of UAW John Deere members voted to ratify the agreement.


EQUIPMENT Kioti Tractor donates equipment to nonprofit


Daedong-USA Inc. division of Kioti Tractor, Wendell, North Carolina, donated heavy ma- chinery to Rebuilding Together of the Triangle. Te nonprofit will use the donated tractor, front-end loader, backhoe and accompanying trailer to provide no-cost home repairs to area residents. Te donation is a part of Kioti’s Dirt Brigade initiative, a project through which Kioti seeks to empower and celebrate people using heavy machinery to give back to in-need community members. Every year, RTT serves hundreds of families around its Morrisville, North Carolina,


headquarters with home repair work, community revitalization and related projects. “Kioti’s generous equipment donation will help our team make repairs more efficiently and assist more homeowners across (North Carolina’s Wake, Durham, Orange and Cha- tham counties) for years to come,” says Dan Sargent, executive director of RTT.


LANDSCAPE Ruppert Landscape to rebuild after corporate campus explosion


Ruppert Landscape, Laytonsville, Maryland, will reconstruct a building on its corporate campus after an explosion Sept. 7, 2021. Te explosion occurred after a propane gas leak, the cause of which has been investigated but not yet determined. “We have received such an outpouring


of support from the community — from the emergency responders from both the Lay- tonsville and Damascus volunteer fire sta- tions who were on-site the day of the incident, to community members who have reached out and dropped off food and made inquiries. I just wanted people to know how indebted we are for your concern and care,” says Craig Ruppert, CEO of Ruppert Landscape. While the structure was unsalvageable and had to be taken down, there are plans already


underway to reconstruct the building to closely resemble the historic structure. Te new building should be completed by mid-2022. Temporary trailers will house employees who were displaced as a result of this incident.


Te contract boasts a $8,500 signing bonus, 20% in-


crease in wages over the lifetime of the contract with 10% this year, return of cost-of-living adjustments, three 3% lump sum payments, enhanced options for retirement and enhanced CIPP performance benefits. Healthcare will re- main the same for the duration of the agreement. Deere & Company also announced Nov. 23, 2021, that


its salaried staff, including supervisors, engineers and finan- cial service employees, would receive 8% raises, according to the Des Moines Register. Despite the strike, Deere & Company experienced


a record profit for the 2021 fiscal year. Te company an- nounced it reached an annual net income of about $6 bil- lion, doubling the $2.8 billion it earned last year. Deere & Company’s former record for annual net income was $3.5 billion in 2013. Te company also anticipates a continuation of break- ing its annual net income record. For its full-year 2022 earnings, Deere & Company’s forecast is $6.5 to $7 billion.


Leading indicators


Sources: census.gov, NAHB.org, conference-board.org


Updated Jan. 20, 2022 irrigationandlighting.org


Residential building permits


8.60%


Residential


housing starts 1.35%


Residential housing completions


1.00%


Housing


market index –1.20%


Consumer


confidence index 3.37%


Spring 2022 Irrigation & Lighting 7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52