New Deere Construction, Forestry, Power Systems President

In the first major senior management move by new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John C. May, Deere & Co. said John Stone, 50, has been named president, of the company’s Worldwide Construction & Forestry and Power Systems, effective July 1.

May became the Deere’s chief executive officer in November 2019 and assumed the position of chairman in May 2020. He was named president & chief operating officer earlier in 2019.

Stone replaces James M. Field, 57, who will assume a new role as senior advisor, Office of the Chairman, effective July 1. In this position, Field will provide counsel to company leadership on various financial and operating matters. Since joining Deere in 1994, he has held a number of leadership assignments. He was president of the former commercial and consumer equipment and agriculture and turf divisions and also served as a senior vice president and chief financial officer. In 2018, Field was named president, Worldwide Construction & Forestry and Power Systems.

Stone will be responsible for the overall management and performance of the company’s construction and forestry operations throughout the world and for the Wirtgen organization. Stone also will have responsibility for the engine, drivetrain, and electronic-component businesses.

Stone, who joined the company in 2002, has managed the company’s global utility tractor product line and headed corporate strategy. Since 2016, he has been senior vice president, Intelligent Solutions Group. In that role, he has led the company’s efforts to develop precision technologies. Stone was instrumental in the opening of John Deere Labs, a San Francisco-based research unit focused on technologies such as machine learning and robotics. Also, under his leadership, Deere in 2017 acquired Blue River Technology, a company that develops computer vision and machine learning