Owners of John Deere farm equipment have a right to repair, FTC says

For decades, American farmers dealing with malfunctioning John Deere equipment had few options for repair. The company allowed repairs only to authorized dealers, while withholding the necessary tools from independent repair shops and individuals, increasing costs and waiting times.

A settlement this week with the Federal Trade Commission changes that. The commission on Wednesday secured a right-to-repair settlement with John Deere in a lawsuit filed in January 2025.

The settlement “allows farmers to do what they’ve done for generations — repair their own tractors and other farm equipment — without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Competition Bureau, said in a statement Wednesday.

Deere & Company’s farm equipment has become more dependent on computerized components, making it easier for the company to adhere to restrictions on who can repair its products. The company also produces the only software tools capable of performing electronic device repairs.

Previously, it made these tools available only to authorized dealers.

Manufacturers have opposed “right-to-repair” laws that have been passed in several states in response to what customers say are corporate restrictions on repairs to their products. The companies argued that access to the software could lead to security concerns and intellectual property theft.

This week’s settlement removes those restrictions, allowing John Deere owners to take their tractors or combines to local repair shops or make the adjustments themselves.

Deere has denied allegations that it violated federal and state laws by restricting who can repair its equipment. But on Wednesday, the company welcomed the decision in a statement.

“This is good news for our customers and for the future of Deere equipment support,” said Denver Caldwell, the company’s vice president of customer support. declaration.

Without the ability to repair their own equipment, farmers were sometimes forced to wait weeks and pay thousands of dollars for a simple repair.

When a John Deere tractor belonging to Walter Schweitzer, 64, had mechanical problems while baling hay in 2020, he called an authorized dealer to diagnose the machine. Mr. Schweitzer, a third-generation Black Angus farmer and rancher in Geyser, Mont., was told his farm did not have a technician available to travel with the necessary computer for the next week.

For farmers, such a window of time can lead to crop destruction.

Mr. Schweitzer had a nearly 50-year-old tractor that he could use to complete his work, an option that not every farmer has. While the technician was finally able to test drive the machine, it took weeks of start-stop testing to diagnose the problem, a faulty fuel sensor.

Only a few hours of work was completed in that time, Mr. Schweitzer said, and he estimated the actual cost at “five, six hundred dollars.” But Mr. Schweitzer, president of the farmers’ union, added that his “bill was almost four thousand.”

He added that even the authorized dealers had their hands tied and were bound by the company’s requirements. If he had access to a diagnostic computer, Mr. Schweitzer said, he could have determined the problem himself. “We could have ordered the part and most likely I could have replaced the part,” he said.

Under the terms of the settlement, Deere will be subject to additional federal oversight, must make available all future repair resources and instruct authorized dealers to advertise the availability of the tools. The terms will last 10 years, but can be extended if Deere violates the order.

The states that sued the company — Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin — also received payment for attorneys’ fees and other costs as part of the settlement.

When the FTC filed suit last year, it signaled the federal government’s support for the right to repair. .

In 2021, The FTC released a report examining how technology companies harm competition by limiting the ability to repair. The same year in implementing regulationPresident Joseph R. Biden Jr. called on the FTC to prevent device manufacturers from restricting the ability of individuals to make repairs themselves.

Farmers like Mr Schweitzer hope the deal will be a springboard for stronger consumer protections.

“We need to work with Congress to codify this right to repair into law,” he said, “and for all equipment manufacturers, not just John Deere.”