Deere, John (1804-1886)

US inventor and manufacturer. He began work as a blacksmith and designed the first cast steel plough. By 1855, he had a factory selling more than 10,000 steel ploughs a year. He managed Deere and Company, manufacturers of ploughs and other agricultural implements, for many years.

He was born in Rutland, Vermont. He moved to Illinois and, with a partner, he designed a series of new ploughs that sold modestly during the 1840s. His first cast steel plough was a major advance that made it substantially easier for farmers to break and turn the heavy soil of the Great Plains.