WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the latest national ‘right to repair’ legal case, Deere & Company settled an antitrust lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission and five states earlier this month.
A 37-page complaint was filed on Jan. 15, 2025, and listed the states of Illinois and Minnesota, along with the FTC, as plaintiffs. The complaint was amended on Feb. 19, 2025, to include three additional states – Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to ftc.gov.
In part, the lawsuit alleges that Deere, described as the world’s leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment, created “monopoly power in the market for fully functional repair tools capable of enabling all repairs on Deere agricultural equipment. Only Deere has the requisite information and knowledge to develop a fully functional repair tool for Deere equipment,” the complaint said.
Details of the settlement were released July 8 and require Deere “to provide farmers and independent repair providers with the same equipment repair resources, including applicable software capabilities, that it currently provides to authorized Deere dealers” for the next 10 years.
Oklahoma
In February, House Bill 3617, also known as the Oklahoma Agriculture Right to Repair Act, was filed by state Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa. State Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, was the principal Senate author. Murdock’s occupation is a farmer/ rancher. The bill, not exclusive to any one manufacturer, did not progress.
The goal of HB 3617, according to billtrack50. com, was to require “manufacturers of agricultural equipment and their parts to make necessary documentation, parts, and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms, meaning without unreasonable restrictions, excessive quantities, or additional contracts beyond a purchase order, and at no charge except for reasonable costs of physical copies or shipping.”
In addition, the measure sought to mandate manufacturers to “provide special tools and documentation needed to bypass electronic locks for repair purposes, with the owner’s permission” and designated the Attorney General to enforce the provisions. Violations would be treated as unfair trade practices.
Without gaining needed support, the measure died in committee.
FTC settlement to lower costs for farmers
“[The] settlement enables farmers to do what they’ve done for generations – fix their own tractors and other farm equipment – without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them,” said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “The settlement with Deere will help lower costs for American farmers. The FTC will continue fighting against anticompetitive restrictions on American consumers’ right to repair.”
Terms of the Deere & Co. settlement order include the following: -Make available to farmers and independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, repair resources equivalent to those Deere now makes available to Deere dealers including: -Reading, clearing, and resetting electronic fault codes; -Reprogramming of electronic components (including “pairing” newly installed electronic parts with equipment); oRestarting a machine following an emissions-related shutdown (commonly referred to as “limp mode”); and -Viewing and searching technical manuals, troubleshooting solutions (including so-called “product improvement programs” and “DTAC solutions”) and other guidance and information useful for equipment diagnosis, maintenance, repair or upgrade.
-Make available to farmers and independent repair providers any future repair resources that are similar or reasonably necessary for repairs, once Deere makes them available to more than 50% of its authorized dealer network in the U.S.; -Instruct its authorized dealers to promote the availability of these repair resources and support their use, and not to discriminate or retaliate against any farmers or independent repair providers who purchase or use such resources rather than dealer repair services; and -Provide notice to the public, to Deere’s farmer and independent repair provider customers and to its authorized dealers information about the stipulated order and the availability of Deere’s repair resources.
Deere also will be subject to strict reporting and oversight requirements to ensure its compliance with the stipulated order. The term of the order is 10 years and may be extended if Deere violates its terms.