by Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register
CNH Industrial, the maker of Case IH and New Holland tractors, combines and backhoes, is considering closing its Burlington plant in mid-2026, potentially leaving about 350 southeast Iowa workers without jobs.
Burlington Mayor Jon Billups said he learned Thursday of the possible loss of the Case IH plant, one of the southeast Iowa city’s largest employers.
“It’s a gut punch to the entire community,” Billups said, adding that Burlington leaders will work hard to convince CNH Industrial to maintain the plant, where the backhoe was invented.
The impact of a closure would reach beyond the Case IH plant because several local suppliers provide parts and services for the plant, said Billups and others.
CNH Industrial, with its global headquarters in England, said in an email Friday it’s “tentatively decided to move the production of backhoes, tractor loaders and rough terrain forklifts out of the Burlington plant to other CNH facilities in the U.S. and Europe.”
“This decision is part of the company’s continuous global initiatives to streamline operations, minimize costs, and bolster competitiveness in a changing market,” it said.
Citing a slumping global agricultural economy, CNH reported Thursday that its third-quarter earnings fell 43% to $310 million compared to the same quarter a year earlier. CEO Gerrit Marx said CNH would “further adjust production levels, while making investments in technology and quality-improving processes.”
CNH said its decision to warn workers early about potentially closing the plant was part of “decisional bargaining.”
“The UAW, which represents the hourly employees at Burlington, was contacted on November 7 and will be provided the opportunity to engage in the decision bargaining process,” the company said.
The company didn’t explain how that process would unfold, and UAW Local 807, which represents workers at CNH’s Burlington plant, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday.
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