Boom Times For Deere

Boom Times For Deere SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 32-2-5 Deere & Co. Chief Executive officer Robert Lane earned about a million dollars a week in 2007. His total compensation of $52.4 million reflects booming business at Deere as global demand soars for grain, meat and biofuels. Farm machinery makers sold more large tractors in North America in 2007 than at any time since 1991, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Deere has boosted its profitability more than threefold since 2000 when Lane took over the top post. The company's forecast for the fiscal year is $2.1 billion in net income, its highest ever. As a result, Deere's stock has soared from $20 in 2003 to $90 recently. Other farm machinery stocks have been booming as well, such as AGCO. Its stock has quadrupled in the past 5 years. Wall Street Journal

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