FTC sues John Deere over ‘unfair corporate tactics’ and ‘high repair costs’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a suit against John Deere, accusing it of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher-than-average repair costs. The federal organization, along with attorneys general for Illinois and Minnesota, are alleging that the company engages in practices that keep farmers from being able to make repairs on equipment they own.

In other words, this is another salvo in the ongoing right-to-repair battle. The complaint states that John Deere engages in dubious practices, like incorporating software into farm equipment, to dissuade people from trying to fix stuff on their own. Additionally, the suit points to “decades” of unlawful behavior that pushes farmers to the company’s authorized network of dealers for repairs.

“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.”

The suit goes on to allege that Deere makes “the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which was only made available to official dealers. These dealers allegedly charge higher prices than independent shops, giving the company unlawful monopoly power. Farmers have long maintained that they can conduct basic repairs on equipment, but the computers lock the systems from working again until an officially licensed technician does their thing. This thing, allegedly, is simply flipping a software switch.

The company says it supports customers’ right to repair equipment. It even signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in 2023 that was supposed to make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. It doesn’t look like that actually happened, as the suit alleges it “continues to unlawfully withhold a fully functional repair tool from equipment owners.”

The lawsuit seeks to “stop Deere’s anticompetitive conduct” by mandating access to its software repair tool, in addition to “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, PIRG’s Right to Repair Campaign Director, said in a statement to Gizmodo that “We shouldn’t tolerate companies blocking repair. When you buy something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it.”