FTC settlement requires John Deere to let farmers repair their own tractors and access needed diagnostic tools

The FTC and several state attorneys general reached a settlement with Deere & Co. giving John Deere owners more freedom to repair their own equipment. The deal requires Deere to make key repair tools and information available to owners and independent repair providers, addressing complaints that farmers were locked into dealer service.

The settlement is a major win for the right-to-repair movement, especially in agriculture, where downtime can be costly and dealer dependence can limit competition. It may pressure other equipment and device makers to loosen repair restrictions as regulators increasingly treat repair access as a competition issue.