After a few lean years due to the faltering farm economy, ag equipment maker Deere and Company is reporting a turnaround for the just-ended fiscal year. Marie Ziegler, Deere’s director of investor relations, broadcast the earnings report this morning over the company’s Internet website.She says income doubled this year on a 15-percent gain in sales thanks to aggressive production cuts that were a response to difficult market conditions. Ziegler says Deere’s worldwide net income was 485-million dollars, compared to 239-million the previous year.Ziegler attributes some of the success to production cuts, the development of better products and last year’s voluntary retirement program.Moline, Illinois-based Deere is one of eastern Iowa’s largest employers with major factories in the Davenport and Waterloo areas.
