Deere & Co. has reached a proposed settlement agreement to resolve the multidistrict “right to repair” litigation, pending approval in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Deere agreed to pay $99 million into a settlement fund for farms and farmers that are part of a class action over costs and access to repairs. Denver Caldwell, vice president for aftermarket and customer support for Deere & Co. said the settlement addresses the issues raised in a 2022 complaint filed by farmers and would bring the case to an end with no finding of wrongdoing.
Despite the proposed settlement announcement, Deere & Co. is still facing a separate but similar lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and multiple state attorneys general filed in January 2025.
The FTC alleged that Deere has restricted the availability of Service ADVISOR, a software tool used to diagnose and repair problems in Deere’s equipment, to its authorized dealers. According to the FTC filing, the practice prevents farmers from completing repairs themselves or using independent repair providers, allowing Deere to “acquire and maintain monopoly power in the market for repairs in violation of the Sherman Act and state-level antitrust laws.”
The case is part of broader scrutiny in the U.S. over so-called “right-to-repair practices, with regulators and plaintiffs arguing that some manufacturers limit competition by controlling access to repair tools and software.
In the settlement, Deere agreed to make available to farmers for 10 years 'the digital tools required for the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair' of large agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, and sugarcane harvesters, the filing
showed.