I would be very surprised if a company like Deere hadn't invested a significant  amount of time  into a    "What if"   strategy,  in preparation for  just this possibility.

On the other hand, they can be immensely arrogant, with no comprehension that they could be wrong about something, so maybe they just figured  nothing on this scale could happen  ?

And that is no indication that I think Deere is wrong in this case...      I simply have no idea.


EDIT...maybe they can't get chips or other components, and it suits them to have someone else to blame for line shutdowns. ?       

   Pretty majorly radical though.