FTC sues John Deere over the company’s “unfair methods” and “high repair costs.”

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has It accused it of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher than average repair costs. The federal organization, along with attorneys general in Illinois and Minnesota, allege that the company engages in practices that prevent farmers from making repairs on equipment they own.

In other words, this is another shot at . The complaint states that John Deere engages in questionable practices, such as integrating software into farm equipment, to discourage people from trying to fix things themselves. Additionally, the lawsuit cites “decades” of illegal behavior that drives farmers to the company’s network of authorized dealers for repairs.

“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating to farmers, who depend on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chairwoman Lena Khan said in a press release. “Today’s action by the FTC seeks to ensure that farmers across America have the freedom to repair their own equipment or use the repair shops of their choice.”

The lawsuit goes on to claim that Deere manufactures “the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which is only made available to official dealers. These merchants allegedly charge higher prices than independent stores, giving the company illegal monopoly power. Farmers have long maintained they can make basic repairs to equipment, but computers prevent systems from working again until an officially licensed technician does his job. Allegedly, this bit is simply flipping a software switch.

Company . So she signed on With the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in 2023 which was supposed to make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. This does not appear to have actually happened, as the suit alleges that it “continues to illegally withhold a fully-functional repair tool from equipment owners.”

The lawsuit seeks to “stop Deere’s anticompetitive behavior” by mandating access to its software repair tool, as well as “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, Right to Repair Campaign Director at PIRG, “We shouldn’t tolerate companies blocking repair. When you buy something, you should be able to do what you want with it.