The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has Accused him of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher than average repair costs. The federal organization, along with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota, are alleging that the company engages in practices that leave farmers unable to repair equipment they own.
In other words, this is another major attack The complaint states that John Deere engaged in questionable practices such as including software in farm equipment to prevent people from trying to fix items on their own. Additionally, the lawsuit points to “decades” of illegal behavior that pushed farmers toward the company’s authorized network of dealers for repairs.
“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating to farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Leena Khan said in a press release. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their equipment or use the repair shops of their choice.”
The lawsuit alleges that Deere creates “the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which was only made available to official dealers. These dealers allegedly charge higher prices than independent stores, giving the company unlawful monopoly power. Farmers has long said they can perform basic repairs on equipment, but are barred from getting computer systems working again until an officially licensed technician does his job. This thing is, allegedly, just flipping a software switch.
company It also signed in 2023 with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), which was to make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. That doesn’t seem to have actually happened, as the lawsuit alleges that it “continues to illegally withhold fully functional repair tools from device owners.”
The lawsuit seeks to “prevent Deere’s anti-competitive conduct” by mandating access to its software repair tools, in addition to “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, PIRG’s Right to Repair Campaign Director, That “we should not tolerate companies hindering repairs. When you buy something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it.
