John Deere has appointed Deanna M. Kovar as president of its agricultural machinery business, effective on 1 November 2023 (the beginning of fiscal 2024).
Kovar will oversee Regions 1 (Africa, Middle East and Asia) and 2 (Europe and CIS), the presidency for the agricultural equipment business, and the turf businesses.
She previously led the precision agriculture business unit.
Kovar will spend the remainder of this fiscal year familiarising herself with the new role in addition to her existing responsibilities. As of 1 November, she will then be given full responsibility for this post.
Markwart von Pentz will assume an advisory role to CEO John C. May before his retirement in 2024. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished with John Deere in Europe, Africa and Asia over the past years.”
Von Pentz has been one of two global presidents of the agricultural machinery business since 2007.
In Kovar’s previous position, she was responsible for the area of precision agriculture, and was instrumental in the introduction of the John Deere Production Systems.
“For me, it was exciting to observe Mark’s early commitment to digitalisation and our common goal was always to meet the complex and digital demands of farmers.”
In the transition phase to the new position as head of Europe, she will be trained by Von Pentz in the small and medium-sized agricultural machinery and turf divisions.
