Deanna Kovar

About Deanna Kovar

Deanna M. Kovar is President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division responsible most recently for Small Ag & Turf across Europe, Africa, and Asia, and since November 2025 for Production & Precision Agriculture and the Americas & Australia; she joined Deere in 2000 and has led precision-ag commercialization and product/channel roles across the enterprise . She holds a BS in Agricultural Business Management (University of Wisconsin) and an MBA (Loyola University Chicago) and grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm, underpinning customer-centric execution in precision tech adoption . Company performance during her senior leadership tenure shows structurally improved financials despite cyclical headwinds: FY2024 net sales and revenues $51.72B, net income $7.10B, diluted EPS $25.62, with Equipment Operations OROA 35.9%, OROS 18.2%, and Financial Services ROE 9.6%; Deere outperformed peer medians on 5- and 10-year TSR .

Past Roles

External Roles

Fixed Compensation

• Not disclosed for Kovar (not a Named Executive Officer in DEF 14A). Deere targets market-median base salaries for executives; STI caps increased to $10.0M in 2023 .
• Executives are covered by general policies: recoupment compliant with SEC/NYSE, stock ownership requirements, and prohibition on hedging/pledging company stock .

Performance Compensation

Note: As an executive officer, Kovar participates in Deere’s STI/LTI designs; individual award amounts for her are not disclosed in the proxy.

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• Hedging and pledging of Deere stock by executives are prohibited, and executives are subject to stock ownership requirements (companywide policy) . Directors must hold equity awards until retirement or certain events; similar alignment extends to executives via LTI equity .
• Related person transaction: Deere approved employment of Kovar’s brother in Production & Precision Agriculture; FY2024 compensation ~$397,240; Kovar does not supervise him, and compensation aligns with peer grade levels . FY2023 similar disclosure listed ~$345,291 in A&T sales and marketing .
• Beneficial ownership: individual holdings for non-NEO executives (including Kovar) are not itemized in DEF 14A; aggregate director/executive group ownership is disclosed but not allocable to Kovar .

Employment Terms

• No individually negotiated employment agreements for U.S.-based executives; change-in-control severance program uses double-trigger; CEO multiple revised to 2.99x base salary plus target STI (market alignment) .
• STI plan: cap $10.0M per participant; awards paid in cash by March 15 following year; Committee may adjust goals for material external changes; deferral permitted under 409A-compliant terms .
• Recoupment: SEC/NYSE-compliant clawback policy adopted in 2023; incentive compensation subject to recovery after restatement .

Performance & Track Record

• Precision-ag leadership: Kovar has been “instrumental in establishing John Deere as a leading provider of precision agriculture technology,” scaling operator-facing innovation and systems across ISG, marketing, and operator station roles since 2010 .
• Corporate financials under her divisional leadership: FY2024 net sales/revenues $51.72B, net income $7.10B, EPS $25.62; cash from operations $9.23B; investors received $5.62B via buybacks/dividends; TSR outperformance over 5/10 years .
• Compensation program alignment: FY2024 STI payout 180% and PSU payout 76% on relative revenue growth, reflecting rigorous cycle-calibrated goals and peer-relative measures .

Governance & Say-on-Pay

• Compensation Committee retains independent consultants; peer group reviewed annually; majority of CEO/NEO pay at risk; double-trigger CIC; hedging/pledging prohibited; stock ownership requirements enforced .

Compensation Peer Group (Overview)

• Committee targets CEO/NEO total direct compensation around peer median; in FY2024 increased PSUs to 50% and discontinued LTIC for periods starting 2024, adding relative TSR alongside relative revenue growth in PSUs to tighten shareholder alignment .

Risk Indicators & Red Flags

• Related party employment (family member) disclosed and approved with controls; no supervisory relationship; aligns with policy and peer compensation levels .
• Policy strengths mitigate misalignment: clawbacks, no excise tax gross-ups, no option repricing without shareholder approval, no hedging/pledging, majority pay at-risk, rigorous STI goal escalators for FY2025 .
• Insider trading activity for Kovar (Form 4) not available in DEF 14A; Form 4 review would be required to assess selling pressure and vest-driven sales.

Investment Implications

• Incentive alignment is strong: executive STI tied to OROA/OROS/ROE with cycle-calibrated rigor and rising FY2025 targets; LTI shifts toward performance equity (PSUs with relative TSR and revenue growth) enhance pay-for-performance linkage .
• Retention risk appears moderated by three-year ratable vesting for RSUs/options and three-year PSU cycles; recent promotions (2023, 2025) suggest high internal confidence in Kovar’s execution in precision-ag growth and margin focus .
• Governance quality (high say-on-pay approvals, clawbacks, no hedging/pledging) reduces compensation-related red flags; related-party employment is disclosed and controlled, though investors should monitor for any future changes in supervisory relationships or compensation variances .
• Trading signals: absent Form 4 data, no conclusion on near-term insider selling pressure; monitor upcoming vest dates (annual RSU/options tranches; 3-year PSUs) and any 8-K Item 5.02 changes to comp arrangements for updated retention or incentive shifts .