The five-week-long strike between Deere & Co. and more than 10,000 of its workers finally came to an end on Wednesday after United Auto Workers members approved a new six-year contract with the farm equipment maker on their third vote. In a statement, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) said that 61 percent of its members approved the deal, which contained only modest modifications to an agreement put forward but ultimately rejected earlier this month. The new agreement accepted on Wednesday would provide an $8,500 signing bonus; a 20 percent increase in wages over the lifetime of the contract with 10 percent this year; three 3 percent lump sum payments; enhanced options for retirement and enhanced CIPP performance benefits. In addition, it restored a cost-of-living adjustment to protect workers from increases in consumer prices. Health care, meanwhile, remains the same for the life of the agreement. The new six-year collective bargaining agreement covers more …