The Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois and Minnesota Attorneys General announced a lawsuit against agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere over its practices that have allegedly increased equipment repair costs for farmers and deprived them of the ability to make timely repairs on critical farming equipment.
The FTC’s complaint alleges that, for decades, Deere’s actions have limited the ability of farmers and independent repair providers to repair Deere equipment, forcing them to rely on Deere’s network of authorized dealers for necessary repairs. According to the FTC, this 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.
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“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice, lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays and promoting fair competition for independent repair shops.”
Historically, farmers have sought to repair their own equipment or relied on local, independent repair providers. However, with the increasing computerization of Deere’s equipment over the past few decades, farmers must now rely on Deere’s interactive software tool called Service ADVISOR, which Deere makes available only to its authorized dealers, the FTC’s complaint states.
An alternative repair tool exists, Customer Service ADVISOR, but it is reportedly incapable of doing all repairs on Deere agriculture equipment. Deere also allegedly fails to make the information necessary to develop a fully functional repair tool available to generic repair tool developers.
The lawsuit seeks to require Deere to grant large tractors and combines owners, as well as independent repair providers, access to its Service ADVISOR repair tool and any other repair resources offered to authorized dealers.
In a response, Deere stated that the FTC and state attorneys general based the lawsuit on "flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories."
“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," Deere Vice President of Aftermarket and Customer Support Denver Caldwell said.
Deere stated that the FTC filed the lawsuit amid active negotiations with the company regarding a potential resolution. The company added that it plans to introduce new self-repair capabilities, allowing customers and independent repair technicians to reprogram Deere-made electronic controllers.
Deere expects to launch the pilot in Canada and the U.S. by the second half of this year.
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