Deere & Co., the farm-equipment powerhouse headquartered in Moline, has agreed to pay $99 million to settle a right-to-repair class action that accused the company of locking farmers out of key diagnostic software and funneling repair work to its dealer network. The proposed deal, revealed this week, would set up a cash fund for customers and includes new promises to broaden repair access. Deere says the agreement ends the multidistrict litigation without any finding that it did anything wrong.
Under the settlement plan, filed in federal court in Illinois, the $99 million would go into a fund to compensate class members who paid Deere or its authorized dealers for repairs on large equipment between Jan. 10, 2018, and the date the court grants preliminary approval. Farmers and other customers had alleged that Deere and its dealers withheld software and diagnostic tools in order to force them into dealer-only repairs and charge what they called supracompetitive prices, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Deere has denied any wrongdoing in a company statement but said it chose to settle so it could “move forward” and focus on its customers. In a release distributed via Deere & Company, the manufacturer said it will continue to provide tools, manuals and diagnostic software to customers and independent service providers.
Repair access commitments
The settlement filing also lays out injunction-style commitments to shore up repair access. Deere has agreed to make the digital tools needed for maintenance, diagnosis and repair available to farmers for a 10-year period. That practical access promise is expected to be the most significant change for independent repair shops and equipment owners if a judge signs off, according to reporting from Reuters.
FTC case remains active
This class-action deal does not touch a separate enforcement case the Federal Trade Commission filed in January 2025, which targets the same repair restrictions. That lawsuit alleges Deere’s practices were unfair methods of competition that drove up costs for farmers. The FTC’s complaint, which was joined by several state attorneys general, seeks broader access to Deere’s Service ADVISOR repair tool and other dealer-only resources, according to a press release from the Federal Trade Commission.
What’s next
The proposed accord still needs a federal judge’s approval before any checks go out or new repair-access commitments officially kick in. If the court grants preliminary and then final approval, settlement administrators will roll out claim forms and a distribution plan, and the case will be dismissed as part of the multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Illinois, according to AP News.
Background: Why repair access matters
The right-to-repair battle has put farmers and independent mechanics on one side and equipment manufacturers on the other, as modern tractors and combines increasingly rely on proprietary software. That software can prevent owners from completing even basic fixes without access to dealer-only tools. Critics and repair advocates have long argued that voluntary steps and memoranda, including Deere’s 2023 agreement with the American Farm Bureau, left meaningful access too limited, a concern explored by repair advocates at iFixit.
If the settlement wins court approval, eligible farmers and other equipment owners will be able to file claims and could receive payments, and Deere’s decade-long software access commitment would stay in place. Even so, many critics say $99 million is a relatively small number for a company of Deere’s size, and they argue the real test will be how the FTC’s separate case plays out and whether it forces deeper, lasting changes to how farm equipment gets fixed.
