USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden came after farm equipment manufacturers during a webinar hosted by the National Ag Law Center last week, according to a report from AgWeb.

Vaden said, “‘This administration thinks farmers should be able to repair their own equipment, and the industry’s efforts to prevent them from doing so are illegal.”

He went on to say that is why the FTC is currently suing John Deere and other manufacturers, saying it is to quote “Stand up for American farmers’ rights to repair their own equipment and to not have to suffer under a system where, when their equipment breaks down in the field, they have to call a John Deere dealer, for example, and wait for them to send someone to fix a simple issue that the farmer can repair him or herself — costing them time, productivity and money.” 

Vaden also said the Trump administration is looking into how manufacturers distribute and sell equipment. According to the report, they are calling into question dealers’ geography assignments and trade territories. 

Vaden said, "If you should happen to pick any other dealer than the one they designate as your local dealer, they’ll charge you more for the same piece of equipment — the exact same piece equipment. There’s a financial penalty, which is prohibitive to you exercising choice over which dealer you use to buy your equipment — eliminating the ability to compete on the basis of price.”

In late July 2025, Deere launched a digital tool designed to enhance how equipment owners use, maintain, diagnose, repair, and protect their equipment. 

Since the right-to-repair movement emerged over a decade ago, OEMs and dealers alike have maintained that they are not opposed to farmers repairing their own equipment but they are against modifying equipment that could disable safety and emissions controls.

We’ll continue to monitor this latest development and will have more coverage on Farm-Equipment.com. 

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