John Deere has agreed to a sweeping antitrust settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and five states, resolving a federal lawsuit that accused the agricultural manufacturing giant of illegally trapping American farmers in a high-priced monopoly for equipment repairs.
The deal, announced Wednesday, forces the Moline, Illinois-based company to hand over proprietary diagnostic software, technical manuals, and hardware tools to farmers and independent mechanics for the next 10 years. Under the terms of the stipulated order, the company must also pay $1 million to cover state legal costs and submit to strict compliance oversight.
The agreement marks a major victory for the burgeoning grassroots “right-to-repair” movement, which has targeted tech companies and machinery manufacturers alike over the increasing use of software locks to bar independent work.
“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,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “The settlement with Deere will help lower costs for American farmers.”
The joint lawsuit, brought in January 2025 by the FTC alongside the attorneys general of Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, alleged that Deere used anti-competitive practices to build an artificial monopoly over repair services.
As modern agricultural equipment has evolved from purely mechanical systems to highly advanced computer networks controlled by Electronic Control Units (ECUs), farmers increasingly found themselves locked out of their own machinery. According to the complaint, simple fixes that once required a basic wrench now required specialized software tools that Deere tightly restricted to its network of authorized dealerships.
Federal regulators argued these restrictions crippled farmers during time-sensitive planting and harvesting seasons, creating weeks-long service delays and forcing operators to pay premium rates to company-approved technicians.
Under the terms of the settlement, which is pending final approval from U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford, Illinois, Deere must now provide equipment owners and independent shops with the exact same technical capabilities it offers its own dealerships on “fair and reasonable terms.”
Specifically, the mandate guarantees access to resources for:
- Reading, clearing, and resetting electronic fault codes.
- Reprogramming electronic components and “pairing” newly installed digital parts.
- Bypassing and restarting machines stuck in emissions-related “limp mode.”
- Searching internal troubleshooting databases and engineering solutions.
The order also includes anti-retaliation protections, explicitly barring Deere dealerships from discriminating against customers who choose to repair their own machinery. Furthermore, if Deere rolls out new diagnostic resources to more than 50% of its authorized dealer network in the future, it is legally required to make those tools available to the public.
John Deere did not admit or deny wrongdoing in the settlement. In a statement Wednesday, the company framed the agreement as a formalization of its current initiatives rather than a forced concession.
“This agreement reinforces Deere’s continued innovation toward more flexible repair options, emphasizing increased access and transparency for customers,” the company said, noting that the ongoing oversight will allow regulators to verify its commitment.
Denver Caldwell, Deere’s vice president of aftermarket and customer support, called the deal “good news for our customers.”
“We share the Administration’s and the states’ desire to put farmers first while preserving Deere’s ability to support American agricultural productivity, equipment safety and innovation,” Caldwell said.
The regulatory crackdown aligns with a broader, multi-year push by federal and state authorities to address corporate consolidation and anti-competitive practices in the agricultural sector. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson noted the historical weight of the decision, pointing out that American farmers played a central role in shaping early U.S. antitrust legislation.
“So it is only right that this settlement protects those that Jefferson designated as the nation’s most valuable and virtuous citizens,” Ferguson said.
The agreement comes closely on the heels of another major financial hit for the manufacturer. In April 2026, Deere agreed to pay $99 million to settle a massive, consolidated private class-action lawsuit brought by farmers over the exact same repair restrictions. While that multi-million dollar payout compensated consumers for past damages, Wednesday’s federal settlement functions as structural reform, legally altering how John Deere must support its equipment through the middle of the next decade.
If John Deere violates any terms of the agreement over the next 10 years, federal courts hold the authority to extend the oversight period.
