What's going on?

Deere posted better-than-expected earnings late last week, and ain�t y�all investors too kind, pushin� the farm equipment-maker�s li�l ol� share price higher.

What does this mean?

Deere�s worth paying attention to because it�s an economic bellwether, meaning demand for its products gives a good indication of how busy US farmers are keeping. So it�s a strong sign that the company�s profit surged 169% from the same time last year, and that it upped its expectations for the rest of 2021 for the second quarter in a row. That�s partly thanks to a recovering global economy in need of food production and construction equipment, and partly thanks to a surge in the prices of grains, which has given farmers more money to spend on new toys.

Why should I care?

For markets: All the demand, none of the supply.

Deere did warn that it might struggle to secure necessary parts in the months ahead, and it�s not alone: manufacturers across a host of different industries are running out of the steel, plastics, and rubber they need for their products, as the economy picks up again and demand overwhelms supply. Microchips too: Cisco�s shares dropped last week when it warned its profit might be lower than analysts were expecting, with the lack of semiconductors pushing up prices of what�s available.

The bigger picture: Deere ain�t foolin� anyone.�

Deere might masquerade as a folksy, salt-of-the-earth type, but it�s actually an uncanny hybrid of industrial and tech company � with one investment manager even including it in their autonomous technology and robotics ETF. That�s because the company�s investing big into �precision farming� technology � from crop-surveying drones to soil-analyzing artificial intelligence � that�ll allow farmers to grow more with less water, fertilizer, and land. That�s a market with big potential: Morgan Stanley reckons precision farming could rake in $17 billion of revenue in 2030 � up from $5 billion in 2019.