In any case, the year just ended was one for records: sales will reach $61 billion in 2023, compared with $52 billion in 2022; operating margin is 25%, and return on equity 48%; while net income stands at $10 billion, compared with $7 billion the previous year.

Deere - which generates half of its sales in North America - nevertheless anticipates a downturn in the cycle. It anticipates a decline in net income of at least 20% in 2024, with sales contractions of between 10% and 20% in its three business segments.

After an exceptional 2021-2023 sequence, it is not a sectoral depression but a return to normal - a "mid-cycle" as the Group modestly describes it - that explains this trend.

In agriculture, it's a commonplace among equipment manufacturers and fertilizer producers alike to say that cycles last five years on average. The current cycle is highly profitable, thanks to the modernization and digitalization efforts de rigueur in the sector, and will have lasted almost eight years.

In this respect, the current turnaround has not taken the market by surprise. In fact, Deere's valuation began plummeting as early as October 2022. It is now hovering around ten times operating profit, i.e. at a level last seen in 2009 and 2014.

Management seems to have reacted appropriately, directing $7 billion towards share buybacks this year. Incidentally, Bill Gates' family office - a long-standing shareholder - has reduced its position by a quarter in recent months.