Third-generation farm equipment maker Ric Kirby looks over a custom-made cattle mixer/feeder at his farm equipment manufacturing business in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27. Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

Third-generation farm equipment maker Ric Kirby looks over a custom-made cattle mixer/feeder at his farm equipment manufacturing business in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.

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  1. WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 22: Samuel Allen, CEO of John Deere, participates in a symposium at the Newseum on September 22, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Global Harvest Initiative hosted the symposium on agriculture to learn ways to double agricultural output to meet rapidly growing global demand anticipated by the United Nations.
  2. Visitors admire the John Deere exhibits at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009. The annual agricultural trade show will run through Thursday this week.
  3. Visitors admire the antique John Deere exhibit at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009. The annual agricultural trade show will run through Thursday this week.
  4. A central Illinois corn farmer uses a John Deere combine to harvest crops near Waverly, Ill., Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Warmer weather during the past week has helped area farmers start to catch up with an unseasonably late harvest.
  5. A central Illinois corn farmer uses a John Deere combine to harvest crops near Waverly, Ill., Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Warmer weather during the past week has helped area farmers start to catch up with an unseasonably late harvest.
  6. A vertical cattle mixer/feeder is shown at a farm equipment manufacturing business in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.
  7. Workers construct a cattle mixer/feeder at a farm equipment manufacturing facility in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.
  8. Third-generation farm equipment maker Ric Kirby looks over a custom-made cattle mixer/feeder at his farm equipment manufacturing business in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.
  9. A man walks near a horizontal cattle mixer/feeder at a farm equipment manufacturing facility in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.
  10. Welders construct a cattle mixer/feeder at a farm equipment manufacturing facility in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas. Picture taken October 27.
  11. Third-generation farm equipment maker Ric Kirby stands near two cattle mixer/feeders that sold in Japan, at his farm equipment manufacturing business in Merced, California October 27, 2009. Since 1837 when blacksmith John Deere created the first polished-steel plow so farmers could cut furrows through dense prairie soil, farm equipment makers have been a mainstay of U.S. Manufacturing. But the sharp contraction in the U.S. economy starting in late 2007 and the subsequent surge in the dollar as investors sought the safety of U.S. government securities made sales tough -- especially overseas.
  12. In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2009, a central Illinois farmer uses a John Deere combine to harvest soybeans while racing against the setting sun in Pawnee, Ill. Farmers in central Illinois estimate they're as much as seven weeks behind in their harvest as unusually cold and wet weather has prevented them from bringing in their crops.
  13. WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 22: (L-R) Patricia Woertz, CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Co., Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont, Samuel Allen, CEO of John Deere, and Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto, participate in a symposium at the Newseum on September 22, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Global Harvest Initiative hosted the symposium on agriculture to learn ways to double agricultural output to meet rapidly growing global demand anticipated by the United Nations.
  14. In this photo taken Sept. 2, 2009, visitors admire the John Deere exhibits at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Businesses are finally willing to spend more money on equipment, a healthy sign for the economic recovery.
  15. In this photo taken Sept. 2, 2009, visitors admire the John Deere exhibits at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Businesses are finally willing to spend more money on equipment, a healthy sign for the economic recovery.
  16. In this photo taken Sept. 2, 2009, the John Deere logo is seen at the exhibits at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. said Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, it will recall most of the workers it laid off earlier this year at an Iowa plant.

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