Oxbo, an international farm machinery and equipment manufacturer, has announced plans to permanently close its farm machinery manufacturing facility in Clear Lake, Wisc., laying off 68, according to a March 26 statement released by the company.
The announcement noted that the company’s decision to close the manufacturing plant and consolidate the activity into a new plant — currently under construction in Bergen, NY. — “comes as a result of the downturn in the agricultural market, rising operational costs, and the aging infrastructure of the plant.”
“This was a difficult decision and a difficult announcement because of the impact on employees,” said Joe Perzia, President of Oxbo’s High Value Crop division. “We are grateful for the dedication, hard work, and commitment of our employees, some of whom have been with us for decades. Unfortunately, the challenging ag business cycles are made more difficult because we try to balance the capacity and utilization of two outdated plants. Consolidating in a single, modern facility will enable us to react to significant year-to-year market fluctuations in our business. The consolidation was necessary to continue to provide our customers with specialty crop harvesters, parts and service well into the future.”
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