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| Mindy models the latest in safety gear at the John Deere plant. Note the cool Frankenstein boots. |
We heard again about the Argentine drought affecting sales. Still, Deere commands a 43% market share in combines and a 33% market share in tractors—making them first in both categories.
After a tour of the Deere plant, we headed to the Vincentin soybean crushing plant—a gargantuan facility located the Paranå River. The plant crushes 10,000 metric tons of soybeans per day, which are delivered by truck (about 600 per day) and about 10% comes in by rail. Beans also arrive from Paraguay by barge. A word about the rail: The gauge of the track is narrower going east and south than it is going north and west.
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| A team photo in the lobby of the John Deere engine plant in Rosario. |
Due to the drought, the river is so low that Panamax ships cannot be loaded to full capacity—only about 65%. As the ship gets close to Brazil, it will be loaded to capacity since the river is deeper and then will go on to markets in Europe.
The plant employs 450 full time and 250 part-time.
Vincentin also produces biodiesel and has recently doubled production capacity to 400,000,000 liters per year. They use soybean and rape seed only—and can easily shift from edible oil to biodiesel depending on the market and value.
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| A shot down the Paranå River showing the large number of port loading facilities. |
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| A truck full of soybeans is dumped. Trucks pull onto a platform that raises to speed up the delivery of beans to the plant. |
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| A line of trucks is a continual sight at the Vincentin soybean crushing plant. |
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