Farmers are started being notified Friday of their options under a settlement agreement from a class-action lawsuit with John Deere that alleged the manufacturing giant maintained a monopoly on repair services.
Some advocates of right to repair say the problem is far from solved despite the settlement agreement, however.
The class action lawsuit said John Deere “engaged in anticompetitive behavior by agreeing to withhold necessary repair tools from farmers and independent repair shops, which unfairly suppressed price competition for Deere Repair Services and unreasonably restrained trade.”
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In July, the Federal Trade Commission also agreed to settle with John Deere in a separate case over the issue. The FTC, along with Illinois, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, sued John Deere, saying the company’s “unlawful business practices have inflated farmers’ repair costs and degraded farmers’ ability to obtain timely repairs, which is especially critical in times of planting and harvesting.”
The issue is that John Deere’s agricultural equipment requires a software tool to diagnose and repair problems with its equipment. Only John Deere and its dealers had access to this software.
“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 [independent repair provider] that may be cheaper, closer, faster, or more trusted,” the FTC and other plaintiffs said in the lawsuit. “Deere’s unlawful business practices have inflated farmers’ repair costs and degraded farmers’ ability to obtain timely repairs, which is especially critical in times of planting and harvesting.”
Under the FTC settlement, Deere has to “make available to every Owner and IRP on Fair and Reasonable Terms, on a license, subscription, or purchase basis, Repair Resources equivalent to those Deere then makes available to Deere Dealers.”
The company is also, according to the FTC, being held to strict reporting and oversight requirements to make sure it complies with the order, which is set to last 10 years.
“Today’s settlement enables farmers to do what they’ve done for generations — fix their own tractors and other farm equipment — without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them,” FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera said in a statement announcing the settlement in July. “The settlement with Deere will help lower costs for American farmers. The FTC will continue fighting against anticompetitive restrictions on American consumers’ right to repair.”
As part of the class action settlement, John Deere has to pay into a fund of $99 million in cash. The plaintiffs’ expert values this settlement at $392.9 million-$747 million.
Those who are part of the settlement class include those who purchased repairs for Deere Agricultural Equipment from John Deere or its dealers between Jan. 10, 2018 and May 18, 2026.
Class members have four options: submit a claim on or before Dec. 31;opt out of the settlement by Dec. 4; object to the settlement by Dec. 4; or “do nothing.” Those who don’t act will still be a part of the settlement class — but they won’t be able to file their own lawsuit against John Deere, nor can they receive a payment. Those who object can stay in the class and file a claim while telling the judge what they think is wrong with the deal.
Willie Cade, a board member with the Repair Association, notes this settlement is spread across over an estimated 200,000 class members, and there are also tens of thousands in attorney fees and administration to think about.
This means, Cade said, class members can expect to see an average payout of 79 cents per acre.
“John Deere is offering the equivalent of three ears of corn per year per acre for this settlement, and I’ve had farmers say, ‘Well, you know, if I sneeze while I’m driving my combine, I will lose more than three ears of corn,’” Cade said.
In addition, to access the repair tools specified in the injunctive relief, farmers still need to pay for an annual software subscription, which those who object to the settlement say means providing John Deere with their operational and machine data for free.
Jared Wilson, a corn and soybean farmer in Missouri and a named plaintiff in the class action lawsuit who objected to the settlement, told Straight Arrow “it’s pretty pernicious that I have to give up all of my data and give John Deere an implied lifetime use license for it in exchange for repairing my machine when it breaks down.”
“We’re talking about a subscription service. We’re talking about ongoing costs that were never disclosed to us when we purchase these machines,” Wilson said. “It’s really hard to calculate the life cycle cost when we haven’t informed on the front end when we make these purchasing decisions.”
In addition, Deere only has to provide future repair resources to farmers and independent providers once they are available to 50% of its authorized dealer network in the United States.
With this being the case, Wilson said, Deere may only provide access to specialized pieces of equipment, such as cotton pickers, in the limited dealership network for that tool and not roll it out nationwide.
Which is why Wilson says that even with the settlement, farmers are “just not being compensated” for all their damages.
“When you’re talking about the damages I think I have suffered from these repair practices, it’s important to note that there are different types of damages, right?” Wilson said. “So, not only the super expensive labor costs from John Deere, but also lost yields from machines not functioning during important windows.”
In an analysis of people’s invoices with John Deere dealers, Cade said, the cost of repair with John Deere’s tool was sometimes 3.2 times higher than if they didn’t need the tool.
According to a report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, U.S. farmers can lose as much as $3 billion to tractor downtime, and as well as $1.2 billion in excess repair costs, annually.
At the end of the day, Cade said, “It’s a settlement to reward people who send their equipment to the dealers more often, as opposed to guys who want to repair as much as they can and be cost-effective as they can.”
“Ultimately,” he added, “I’m really disappointed in the settlement in it, and it’s just kind of business as usual, right?”
Straight Arrow reached out to John Deere for comment over the objections. Upon first announcing it reached a settlement in the class action lawsuit in April, John Deere said it remains “dedicated to supporting customers’ ability and access to maintain, diagnose, and repair their equipment safely, efficiently and conveniently.”
John Deere said the settlement “addresses the issues raised in the 2022 complaint and brings this case to an end with no finding of wrongdoing.”
“As we continue to innovate industry-leading equipment and technology solutions supported by our world-class dealer network, we are equally committed to providing customers and other service providers with access to repair resources,” Denver Caldwell, vice president, Aftermarket & Customer Support, said at the time. “We’re pleased that this resolution allows us to move forward and remain focused on what matters most — serving our customers.”
A fairness hearing for the class action settlement is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2027 in Rockford, Illinois.
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