FTC Sues John Deere for ‘Unfair Corporate Tactics’ and ‘High Repair Costs’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has and accuses him of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher than average repair costs. The federal organization, along with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota, allege that the company engages in practices that discourage farmers from making repairs to their own equipment.
In other words, this is another salvo in the . The complaint alleges that John Deere engages in questionable practices, such as integrating software into farm machinery to discourage people from repairing things themselves. Additionally, the lawsuit points to “decades of” unlawful conduct that pushes farmers to turn to the company’s authorized dealer network for repairs.
“Illegal repair restrictions can have devastating consequences for farmers who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn income,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a press release. “Today’s action by the FTC aims to ensure that farmers across America have the freedom to repair their equipment themselves or turn to repair shops of their choice.”
The lawsuit further alleges that Deere “manufactures the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which has been made available only to official dealers. These dealers allegedly charge higher prices than independent stores, giving the company unlawful monopoly power. Farmers have long claimed they can perform basic repairs on equipment, but the computers block the systems from functioning until an officially licensed technician does their job. This thing supposedly just flips a software switch.
The company . It even signed one with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in 2023, which would make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. It doesn’t look like that actually happened, as the lawsuit claims that “device owners continue to be unlawfully deprived of a fully functional repair tool.”
The lawsuit aims to “stop Deere’s anti-competitive conduct” by mandating access to its software repair tool in addition to “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, head of PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign, “We shouldn’t tolerate companies blocking repairs. When you buy something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it.”
