The recent acquisition of Risutec by John Deere is a significant step in the advancement of silviculture technology. Both companies have long been involved in forest machine and technology development. John Deere has been the pioneer of forest harvesting equipment and agriculture. Over the recent years, John Deere expanded its strategic focus beyond traditional forestry harvesting to include silviculture. However, John Deere tractors, excavators and dozers have been mounted with various implements and used to perform silviculture operations such as soil preparation, planting, weeding, fertilizing etc. Furthermore, when it comes to silviculture, purpose-built equipment, they have been developing and testing a planter mounted on a 1510G forwarder - John Deere's mechanised seedling planter to improve planting productivity, reduce labour-intensive work, and support sustainable forestry operations. While Risutec has been specialising in manufacturing equipment focused on mechanised and integrated silviculture solutions for commercial forestry. Over the years, the company has produced tree planting systems that combine soil preparation, planting, watering, fertilising and digital documentation into one streamlined operation. Both companies have thus contributed to silviculture mechanisation from complementary angles.
The acquisition announcement
On February 17, 2026, Deere & Company announced that it had acquired the intellectual property and related assets for tree planting equipment from Finland-based Risutec Oy. The acquisition is expected to close in February 2026 and strengthens John Deere’s silviculture strategy by bringing advanced mechanised tree-planting solutions into its portfolio. According to the official announcement, Deere leadership highlighted that Risutec’s mechanised equipment and expertise will complement John Deere’s existing forestry machinery business while expanding its offerings for reforestation and sustainable forestry operations worldwide. The tree-planting equipment acquired is configurable for different operational environments and can be equipped with precision forestry software to enhance productivity and forest management data analysis. These machines are expected to be sold and serviced through John Deere’s global forestry equipment dealer network, including select Waratah dealers. John Deere’s vice president of global forestry noted that the acquisition combines Risutec’s global market experience and mechanised solutions with Deere’s scale and other dealer support
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