Source: Deere & Company presentation. All Sales growth figures are currency-adjusted. Price increases Second, despite falling sales and a weak end market, Deere managed to increase equipment prices by 2% in the second quarter, a figure in-line with the company's forecast for 2% price realization in 2015.Moreover, Deere appears to be managing its inventory position better than its rivals. When answering a question from Morgan Stanley analyst Nicole DeBlase on the subject of pricing, Deere's Director of Investor Relations Tony Huegel talked about Deere's agricultural equipment: "Inventory levels are, as a percent of sales, about half of what the rest of the industry would be. But certainly that puts pressure because those inventories need to come down, and so you do see some pricing pressure." Crop prices? Third, management affirmed its belief that, given the possibility of poorer crop-growing weather, crop prices could move higher.