Deere & Company has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and five U.S. states accusing the farm equipment manufacturer of improperly restricting repairs to its authorized dealer network rather than permitting independent service providers or farmers themselves to conduct repairs.
Under the terms of the settlement, Deere must grant farmers and independent repair businesses access to the same diagnostic tools and other repair resources that its authorized dealers receive for a period of 10 years. The company must also extend access to any new repair resources once those tools are available to more than 50% of its authorized dealerships.
Deere will direct its authorized dealers to supply those diagnostic and repair resources to farmers and independent providers who request them. In addition to these operational requirements, the agreement includes a $1 million payment from Deere to cover the legal fees and costs incurred by the participating states.
The settlement was reached with the FTC and the states of Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Deere, headquartered in Moline, Illinois, did not admit or deny wrongdoing as part of the resolution. The agreement requires approval by U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston in Rockford, Illinois.
Separately, Deere had previously agreed in April to pay $99 million to resolve related private class-action litigation.
In a company statement, Deere said the settlement reaffirms its ongoing efforts to broaden customer access, increase transparency, and provide more flexibility for repairs. The settlement follows a lawsuit filed on January 15, 2025, which was one of several actions by the Biden administration targeting alleged anti-competitive conduct in agriculture.
The FTC alleged that Deere had illegally acquired monopoly power over repairs for its equipment, resulting in longer service delays and higher repair costs for farmers and purchasers, and producing greater profit margins for the company. The commission said the settlement demonstrates its intent to reduce costs for American farmers and consumers who buy farm equipment.
Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC competition bureau, said the settlement restores farmers’ ability to perform repairs themselves or use independent service providers without being obliged to rely on an authorized John Deere dealer. In a related statement, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson emphasized the importance of competition in agriculture and noted that the settlement protects farmers in line with the historical role they played in shaping U.S. antitrust law.
Implementation of the settlement imposes clear operational duties on Deere and its dealer network and introduces a time-limited obligation to provide repair resources. The requirement to open access after a majority of dealers have those resources establishes a specific trigger for broadened availability of future tools.