Overview
- The FTC and attorneys general from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin announced the agreement on Wednesday, requiring Deere to give farmers and independent repair providers the same dealer-level diagnostic software and repair resources for a 10-year term.
- The order requires Deere to instruct its authorized dealers to support and promote third-party and owner repairs and forbids dealers from discriminating or retaliating against customers or independent shops that use non-dealer options.
- Deere must make future repair tools available to farmers and independent providers once those tools are distributed to more than half of its U.S. dealer network, and the settlement imposes reporting and oversight duties on the FTC and the states.
- The company will pay $1 million to the participating states to cover legal costs, did not admit or deny wrongdoing, and the deal can be extended another 10 years if Deere violates the terms.
- Implementation and monitoring will determine the real-world impact for farmers, who have argued that restricted access to proprietary software caused repair delays and higher costs, and the settlement follows a separate $99 million class-action deal Deere reached in April.