Deere & Co returns to Moline after the CEO called 2026 the bottom of the farm slump

Deere & Co flew from Phoenix to its home base at Quad City International Airport on Thursday evening, a 2-hour-22-minute hop aboard the company's Gulfstream G280. The trip came on the same day Deere & Company reported second-quarter net income of $1.773 billion, per a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The same week, Chairman and CEO John May returned to Moline after a public appearance in Phoenix, a city where Deere & Co has no manufacturing plant. The timing aligns with Deere's quarterly earnings release, which May used to reiterate that global agricultural markets remain under pressure. In February, May told analysts that 2026 represents "the bottom of the current cycle," as covered by Benzinga at the time.

The flight follows a pattern of intra-company travel. Earlier in the week, Deere & Co's Citation X shuttle made trips between Moline, Chicago O'Hare, and Monterrey, Mexico, before N282JD repositioned to Phoenix. The Gulfstream's return to Moline suggests this was a direct move to get the C-suite home after an investor meeting or earnings-related appearance.