(The Center Square) – Five state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission are suing John Deere alleging the company unfairly blocks farmers from using independent repair shops for their equipment, thus making those repairs more expensive and less efficient than they would be in an open market.
Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona and Wisconsin filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Illinois.
The John Deere equipment requires a software tool that only licensed repair shops have to diagnose electronic issues with the equipment.
“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 IRP that may be cheaper, closer, faster, or more trusted,” the lawsuit says.
The attorneys general argue the limited repair access have driven up the cost of repairs for farmers for years while slowing down the repair process at critical times like harvest.
John Deere is the largest manufacturer of large tractors and combine harvesters in the world, the lawsuit says.
“This case is seeking to make the market for farming equipment repairs more competitive,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. “When Wisconsin farmers need to get their farming equipment repaired, they should be able to get the repairs at a fair price, without unnecessary delay.”
John Deere says the lawsuit ignores progress the company has made on equipment self repair and the launch of its Equipment Mobile in 2023.
“The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,” the company said in a statement. “John Deere will vigorously defend itself against this baseless lawsuit.”
Farmers have pushed for right-to-repair legislation across the country, with Colorado being the first to pass the law, which was signed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2023 and went into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
That law requires manufacturers to provide parts, manuals for diagnostics, maintenance and repairs, embedded software, firmware, tools and other resources to independent repair providers and the owners of the agricultural equipment for the purpose of diagnosing, repairing or maintaining the machinery.