In the latest crackdown by U.S. authorities on unfair repair practices, the FTC is suing leading agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Company for preventing farmers from easily fixing their machinery.
“..for decades, Deere’s unlawful practices have limited the ability of farmers and independent repair providers to repair Deere equipment, forcing farmers to instead rely on Deere’s network of authorized dealers for necessary repairs.
“This unfair steering practice has boosted Deere’s multi-billion-dollar profits on agricultural equipment and parts, growing its repair parts business while burdening farmers with higher repair costs,” the FTC alleges.
The complaint focuses on a Deere software repair tool, known as Service ADVISOR, that is required to make certain repairs. The tool is only available to authorized repair shops, which means Deere has overall control over who repairs its equipment. As farming equipment becomes more computerized, repairs have become increasingly intricate, requiring specialist knowledge and tools.
The FTC argues that for users, this has meant higher and more complex repair costs, which has benefited Deere financially. We have seen the same practice from Apple with its parts pairing policy, which it reversed last year after pressure from legislators.
Deere, however, argues that it is expanding its self-repair options for customers and that the FTC is ill-informed about the agricultural equipment industry.
“Our recent discussions with the Commission have 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,” Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support, explained.
The FTC’s suit is the latest move in a long-running fight between Deere, farmers, and legislators. A 2017 Vice documentary showed that Nebraska farmers had turned to using pirated software from Eastern Europe to get around software locks on hardware.
A new Deere skirmish in a familiar fight
2025 is already a successful year for right-to-repair activists. Not just because of the FTC suit, but also because Oregon’s right-to-repair bill took effect on January 1st.
Signed into law last March by Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, the bill requires companies to make tools, documents and parts openly accessible and not just restricted to authorized repair shops. It went further than California’s similar repair legislation because it was the first to ban parts pairing.
Shortly after, Apple—a company that employed parts pairing across several of its devices—announced that it would reverse its policy with the iPhone 16. It did this by removing the need for parts to be verified by a calibration tool that was previously only available to Apple and authorized repair shops.
While Apple eventually capitulated in the face of legislation, Deere & Company may have a lifeline via incoming President Trump’s new pick for FTC chair and current FTC commissioner, Andrew Ferguson, who voted against suing Deere. Ferguson didn’t hold back in his dissenting statement.
“..given the timing of this filing, today’s action appears to be one taken in haste to beat President Trump into office, and lends to the suit the stench of partisan motivation.” Continuing, “The Commission should not expend taxpayer resources on lawsuits on the basis of an evidentiary record as underdeveloped as this one.”
