From his earliest days working on a farm, Graham Thompson was a fan of John Deere tractors.  After studying agriculture at Sparsholt College and agricultural engineering at Lackham College, he wrote to every John Deere dealer in the south of England.

 

He was offered a job by Roger Hunt at Chilbolton, near Andover and spent three years as service technician. “They were really formative and extremely rewarding years which have underpinned my career,” he told Chris Biddle in a recent episode of the Inside Agri-Turf podcast.

 

But perhaps it was written in the stars that someone who shares a birthday in February with John Deere himself (same day, different year!) should rise to the top of the Deere company.

 

He initially approached the Deere field service representative calling at Hunts to enquire about opportunities with the UK branch at Langar and in 1986 was taken on as Area Service Manager in the South West of England. From there, came an opportunity to move to Deere’s European HQ at Mannheim where he stayed for 9 years.

 

His ambition was always to move to the Deere company in the US, and in 1998 he obtained a leadership role based at Deere’s iconic tractor plant at Waterloo in Iowa where relocated with his family.

 

Over the years he rose through the ranks, and at the end of 2020 was Director, Tractor Portfolio Development and Strategic Growth Planning. That was when he was offered early retirement after 35 years with the company.

 

Quite a route to the top from service technician with a dealer in Hampshire to Director status with Deere. And it has come full circle in many ways because he has a smallholding in Iowa which he intends to farm thus returning to his farming roots. He is also taking a Masters Degree in Agricultural Communication at Iowa State University. “You can never stop learning,” he says.

 

As with so many ‘tractorphiles’, Graham has a keen interest in vintage tractors, owning four or five models from the ages including a 1956 Lanz Bulldog (pictured) on which he proudly led in the parade of tractors at the John Deere 50th year anniversary event held in Warsaw in 2006 - and which now is in the John Deere Museum.

 

Along the way, he credits several mentors here in the UK including the farmer who first employed him, Terry Duggleby at Lackham, Roger Hunt and Peter Leech from the Langar branch. “It is important to talk to as many people as you can and use every networking opportunity available,” he says.