The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in Minnesota and Illinois on Wednesday sued farm equipment giant John Deere, accusing it of unlawfully limiting farmers’ ability to repair equipment on their own.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Illinois, the plaintiffs contend that by limiting access to tools used to calibrate and reprogram internal software, the company has forced farmers to pay more by using Deere-affiliated repair shops.
The FTC authorized the lawsuit in a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson dissenting.
“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition for independent repair shops.”
Only John Deere has the knowledge and information required to create tools to repair Deere equipment, the lawsuit claims. While use of one such tool, Customer Service ADVISOR, is fully available to John Deere dealers authorized by the company, only a scaled-back version can be directly accessed by customers, it alleges.
This has allowed Deere to acquire monopoly control of Customer Service ADVISOR, the plaintiffs argue. Because the company can control who gains access to full repair services, "Deere’s dealers are able to maintain a 100% market share and charge supracompetitive prices for restricted repairs, and Deere itself reaps additional profits through parts sales,” they allege.
Attorneys representing the FTC and the two attorneys general claim John Deere's repair practices violate both the Sherman and FTC Acts. They asked the court to force Deere to make the full-function, dealer version of Customer Service ADVISOR available to farmers and independent repair providers.
A Deere spokesperson declined to comment on the record. However, the company on Tuesday announced a new set of digital customer tools intended to “offer more comprehensive solutions for diagnosing and repairing equipment while ensuring machine reliability, safety, and compliance,” according to a press release.
Deere’s repair policies have in recent years been criticized by some farm groups and repair advocates, who argue the company holds too firm a grip over the tools they believe are needed to repair modern farm equipment. In March 2022, the National Farmers Union, along with six of its state-level affiliates and five “right to repair” advocacy organizations, filed a complaint to the FTC alleging John Deere is violating antitrust laws by restricting access to software embedded in its machines.
John Deere has long insisted it already supports customers' rights to “safely maintain, diagnose, and repair their equipment," just not the software inside of the high-tech machines.
Cory Reed, the president of Deere’s worldwide agriculture and turf division for production and precision ag, told the FTC in 2021 that opening up access to embedded software code to third parties could allow them to illegally tamper with safety and emissions controls. It would also infringe on the company’s intellectual property interests, he added.
"Deere opposes a right to modify embedded software code,” Reed wrote in the 2021 FTC filing. "However, we support our customers’ right to repair their own equipment, and we work every day to provide the tools, materials, and guidance that allow our customers to reduce downtime and increase productivity.”
FTC's investigation into John Deere was made public last October when Minnesota-based data processing and analytics firm Hargrove and Associates attached a civil investigative demand, a type of subpoena, to a petition it submitted to the agency.
Hargrove and Associates is a firm that helps the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, of which John Deere is a member, analyze farm equipment market conditions.
Ferguson, who has been selected to be FTC chair when Trump takes office, took issue with the timing of the suit in a statement, saying Wednesday's action “appears to be one taken in haste to beat President Trump into office, and lends to the suit the stench of partisan motivation.”
Ferguson, joined by Holyoak in his statement of dissent, said that while he favors right-to-repair legislation and recognizes “that the right to repair one’s own equipment matters a great deal,” he cannot “support commission conduct that appears to be the result of brazen partisanship.”
He also argued that the decision to bring the case “shortchanges an ongoing investigation.” It is “deeply imprudent,” since “the parties are in active negotiations over a fix that, if brought to fruition, could provide meaningful relief to America’s farmers,” he said.
"Securing real relief for farmers in short order should be the commission’s focus, rather than launching potentially years-long litigation in order to secure another triumphant press release on the Democrats’ way out the door,” he said.
In a footnote within a statement of support for the lawsuit, Khan said, "I am disappointed that Commissioner Ferguson and Commissioner Holyoak would vote against this law enforcement action on political grounds, wishing instead to delay the relief that farmers are owed."
Farmers Union President Rob Larew applauded the action. He said Khan called him Wednesday morning to alert him of the lawsuit.
"This feels like a really significant move towards finally getting some real action on the issue," Larew told Agri-Pulse Wednesday.
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This story was updated with additional reaction.
