Kinze Manufacturing lays off 121 workers

Kinze Manufacturing said it will lay off 121 workers, effective in June, citing another year of low grain prices that have hit farm equipment manufacturers especially hard.

The Williamsburg maker of planters, grain carts and other farm equipment said Monday it has taken "numerous actions to address market conditions," including implementing a 30-hour work week last year to avoid permanent cuts.

The company also said it "executed several aggressive marketing campaigns to help dealers reduce their inventories of both new and used Kinze equipment so that they would be in a better position to purchase new Kinze products.

"Despite our efforts, the current demand for agriculture equipment does not support our present staffing level," the company said in a statement Monday.

Kinze said office and factory workforce cuts would become effective June 18.

Deere & Co., DuPont Pioneer, Caterpillar and other ag companies have cut hundreds of workers as the farm economy has softened.

This is the second layoff for Kinze, which cut 215 workers last June, also citing the farm downturn.

Corn and soybean prices have tumbled 50 percent or more after peaking in 2012, a year of widespread drought. At the same time, the costs to raise crops — seed, fertilizer, land rents and other expenses — have remained stubbornly high, squeezing farm income.

In Iowa, for example, farm income fell 47 percent to $5.1 billion in 2014, the most recent data available, after peaking at $9.6 billion in 2011.

Kinze said farmers are working to control costs, including large capital investments in equipment.

In addition to matching staffing to expected demand, the layoffs will enable the company "to invest in product innovations that will help drive sales when the market improves," it said.

The privately owned company said it would provide insurance coverage for laid-off workers through the end of June and host a career fair.