In the announcement, the company cited ongoing economic challenges in the agricultural sector.

The January layoffs, which impact 53 of its 550 employees in Williamsburg, come after nearly 200 employees were laid of there in August 2024.

“Kinze has a fantastic workforce and this was an incredibly difficult decision,� said Susanne Veatch, President of Kinze. “Unfortunately, the continued downturn in the agricultural market necessitated this workforce adjustment.�

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“We deeply regret the necessity of this action,� said Susanne Veatch, President of Kinze. “This decision was not made lightly, and it is a direct response to current ag market realities.�

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The video got a response from Deere: a cease-and-desist letter, which Kinze posted on Twitter. In the letter, Deere accused Kinze of wrongful and uneven comparison.

Specifically, it said the video claims, without supporting data, the Kinze planter had a ‘Positive Win Ratio’ when compared to the John Deere planter.

Deere challenged the methodology, saying the planters were pulled by different staples of tractors and configured differently—Kinze with liquid system and John Deere without.

The letter Kinze received called for a response within seven days. Kinze took only one. It posted a detailed rebuttal that refused to deactivate the link to the product comparison video.

Susanne Veatch, Kinze’s president and chief marketing officer, responded.

She said the video made it clear that this was not a test plot but rather a “real-world, uncontrolled test� performed by a farmer.

“We asked a farmer who was already on his farm with a John Deere ExactEmerge planter to run his John Deere side-by-side with a Kinze True Speed 4905 planter. I am confident the farmer did everything to make his John Deere quad-track tractor, pulling his John Deere ExactEmerge planter, put down the best stand it could. To do otherwise would mean taking money out of his own pocket.�

Veatch reiterated there was no meddling and no payment from Kinze.

Kinze posted the spreadsheets comparing data from the two machines and issued a challenge.

“I am so confident in Kinze’s True Speed planter that, in the spirit of friendly competition, I publicly challenge John Deere to a race in June 2021. A customer ready 24-row Kinze True Speed planter versus a customer ready 24-row John Deere ExactEmerge planter, each with a team of two engineers and a 20-acre plot to plant.�

Veatch suggested a third party would analyze the data and release findings. The winner gets bragging rights, and the loser pays $10,000 to Habitat for Humanity.

Deere had not responded to that offer at press time.

Source: AgDaily