Deere & Co. (DE), the world’s largest maker of agricultural machinery, said it will invest $70 million to expand tractor production in Waterloo, Iowa.

The investment will increase capacity by more than 10 percent by mid-2013, the Moline, Illinois-based company said today in a statement. Deere’s Waterloo operations build large farm tractors that are shipped to more than 130 countries, the company said.

Deere employs about 6,000 people at its Waterloo operations, it said. Today’s announcement isn’t expected to add to that number, the company said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Casey in New York at scasey4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net