The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Deere & Co., on January 15 alleging the company’s repair practices violate competition law.

The FTC is concerned the OEM has withheld key information and diagnostic tools from farmers and independent repair shops, reports Bloomberg.

The filing claims:

“Deere’s increasingly sophisticated agricultural equipment requires a software tool to diagnose and repair problems that relate to electronic functions, and only Deere has the information and knowledge to create this essential tool. By making this tool available only to Deere dealers, Deere forces farmers to turn to Deere dealers for critical repairs rather than complete the repairs themselves or choose an [independent repair shop] that may be cheaper, closer, faster, or more trusted.”  

The suit goes on to claim that Deere’s business practices are unlawful and have inflated farmers’ repair costs and “degraded farmers’ ability to obtain timely repairs, which is especially critical in times of planting and harvesting.”

The state of Illinois and state of Minnesota join the FTC as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In response to the filing, Deere released a statement that in part says,

“This lawsuit, filed on the eve of a change in Administration, ignores the Company’s long-standing commitment to customer self-repair and the consistent progress and innovation we have made over time, including the launch of Equipment Mobile in 2023 and the previously announced launch of new capabilities for John Deere Operations Center™ later this year.  The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and pro-competitive product design. John Deere will vigorously defend itself against this baseless lawsuit.”  

In addition, Deere said:

As FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson (soon to be the FTC’s Chairman) explained in his dissenting statement, the lawsuit “appears to be the result of brazen partisanship,” “lends to the suit the stench of partisan motivation,” and appears “taken in haste to beat President Trump into office.”  Commissioner Ferguson went on to state that “we simply do not have the evidence to file this Complaint with any real confidence of our ultimate chance of success.”  Commissioner Melissa Holyoak joined in Commissioner Ferguson’s dissenting statement, both of whom voted against the filing of the complaint.

Deere’s full response is on the Farm Equipment website in our on-going coverage of the right to repair battle.


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