John Deere has agreed to give farmers broader access to the tools, parts, software and manuals needed to repair its tractors and other farm equipment under an antitrust settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
The order matters because Deere customers have spent years fighting a repair system that, according to the FTC and right-to-repair advocates, pushed farmers toward authorized dealers and away from independent mechanics or their own shops. When a tractor is down during planting or harvest, “call the dealer and wait” is not much of a repair strategy.
The settlement does not pay damages to farmers. Its force is in the conduct rules. Under the FTC agreement, Deere must provide repair resources on “fair and reasonable” terms that are tied to what Deere dealers pay for repair parts and tools, according to the settlement order. That detail is the difference between a rule and a decorative plaque.
Deere and its dealers also may not discriminate or retaliate against customers who repair their own equipment, the FTC settlement says. The order covers future repair resources as well, including tools, guides, software and parts Deere develops later. Deere must submit compliance reports to the FTC, and the agency retains oversight.
The settlement also does not wipe out farmers’ private claims against Deere. That leaves individual farmers with room to sue if they believe Deere’s repair practices harmed them.
A sharper deal than the Illinois settlement
The FTC order follows a separate class action settlement in Illinois that drew heavy criticism from repair advocates and some farmers. In that case, farmers who had paid for repairs over the past decade were covered by a $99 million settlement with Deere, according to AgWeb. After legal fees, Willie Cade, a longtime farm right-to-repair advocate, calculated that about $79 million would be divided among more than 200,000 farmers, or roughly $395 each.
Cade argued in his analysis that the payout amounted to less than the cost of one authorized dealer service call for a typical 500-acre farm. He also criticized the Illinois settlement’s repair provisions, saying they relied on vague “fair and reasonable” terms without a firm price ceiling or parity with dealer pricing.
The Illinois settlement also would bar covered farmers from bringing future repair-related claims against Deere. Wilson Farms, one of the plaintiffs, filed a 53-page objection arguing that the deal would cut off farmers’ ability to collectively challenge Deere’s repair-market conduct for years. Other farmers called the Illinois settlement unfair, according to Cowboy State Daily.
The FTC case was filed under former FTC Chair Lina Khan during the Biden administration, and the Trump administration continued the litigation, according to 404 Media. A judge had allowed the FTC’s lawsuit to proceed before the settlement.
Earlier repair agreements between Deere and farm groups, including memorandums of understanding, promised access to repair materials but offered little enforcement. Advocates said parts and tools were often unavailable, inferior to dealer resources, or priced out of practical reach. Colorado also passed an agricultural right-to-repair law in 2023.
Cade told 404 Media the FTC order gives farmers “real hope.” Nathan Proctor, senior right-to-repair campaign director at U.S. PIRG, said in a statement that the FTC deal is stronger than the Illinois class action settlement and that Deere has agreed to provide materials it previously withheld.
Deere’s compliance will now be the test. A settlement can say farmers get the same repair lane as dealers. The useful part begins when a farmer needs a diagnostic tool, a software fix, or a part, and Deere has to produce it under rules an agency can enforce.
This story draws on original reporting from 404 Media.
