(Radio Iowa) – Two-hundred employees at the Case New Holland plant in Burlington will lose their jobs next year when the facility closes for good. The company says the Burlington facility is its most expensive plant to operate, plus demand for the backhoe loaders produced in Burlington has dropped nearly 50 percent. Production at the Burlington plant began in 1937 and is expected to end by mid-2026.

About 60 employees, most of whom are part of C-N-H’s engineering team, will still work in Burlington to test Case New Holland equipment. The United Auto Workers is holding a rally in Burlington Friday afternoon to protest the company’s decision.

C-N-H was created 25 years ago by the merger of Case and New Holland. The company is controlled by an Italian family whose patriarch co-founded the Fiat Motor Company in 1899.