SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Deere & Co. unfairly forces farmers to visit authorized dealers to repair their equipment, resulting in higher prices than if they could fix it themselves or get help from independent shops, the Federal Trade Commission claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota.
The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer produces repair software that is available only to its dealers, making it impossible for owners to seek less-costly remedies, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford, Illinois.
The action comes as the FTC has stepped up enforcement actions in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration. Deere & Co. said in a statement that the lawsuit was based on a “flagrant misrepresentation of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories.”
The complaint claims that the “unfair steering practice” has boosted Deere’s multibillion-dollar profits on agricultural equipment and parts while burdening practitioners “who rely on affordable and timely repairs,” FTC Chairperson Lina M. Khan said in a prepared statement.
Khan said farmers should be “free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice — lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition.”
Farmers for decades were able to fix their tractors and combines themselves or take them to nearby repair shops. With increased computerization in the past few decades, Deere, the dominant industry player, made its high-tech repair tool available only to authorized dealers, who invariably eschew generic parts for higher-priced Deere parts, according to the FTC.
The company refuses to share information with independent software developers that’s necessary to build their own tools, a common practice in the automotive and trucking industries, the FTC said.
Attorneys General Kwame Raoul of Illinois and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, both Democrats, joined in the lawsuit.
“Deere has made it virtually impossible for farmers themselves or independent repair shops to fully repair Deere equipment, which forces farmers to rely on authorized Deere dealers, which can be more expensive, slower, and for some a long distance away from farms,” Ellison said in a statement.
Deere & Co. asserted the FTC ignored the company’s “long-standing commitment to customer self-repair” and announced an addition this week to its “suite of digital solutions” available for customers to do their own repairs.
Deere Vice President Denver Caldwell said in a statement that the company was actively involved in settlement negotiations with the FTC and said it was still answering commission questions when the lawsuit hit.
Those discussions “revealed that the agency still lacked basic information about the industry and John Deere’s business practices and confirmed that the agency was instead relying on inaccurate information and assumptions,” Caldwell said.
Public pressure for self-repair has grown. A 2023 “right to repair” law in Colorado forces manufacturers to provide manuals, software, tools and parts to farmers who want to get their tractors running again themselves.
A similar law that year in Minnesota exempts farm equipment. The Minnesota Farmers Union has been pressing lawmakers to remove that exception, union president Gary Wertish said.
The lawsuit, which the FTC approved on a 3-2 vote, fits a flurry of activity — issuing consumer refunds, taking enforcement actions against companies the agency accuses of deceptive practices and finalizing rules it deems necessary to make the marketplace fairer — leading up to Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has named Andrew Ferguson, one of the FTC’s five commissioners, to be the next chairperson. Ferguson joined Commissioner Melissa Holyoak in voting against the Deere lawsuit, saying it carries “the stench of partisan motivation” and was “taken in haste to beat President Trump into office.”
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Associated Press reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed.