TLDR
- Deere agreed to pay $99 million into a settlement fund over right-to-repair claims
- The fund covers farmers who paid authorized dealers for repairs on large equipment from January 2018
- Deere will provide digital repair tools, manuals, and diagnostic software for 10 years
- The company stated there was “no finding of wrongdoing” in the settlement
- A separate FTC lawsuit against Deere is still ongoing
Deere & Co has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over right-to-repair practices, putting $99 million into a fund for affected farmers and agreeing to open up access to repair tools for a decade.
The settlement was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It covers eligible plaintiffs who paid Deere’s authorized dealers for repairs to large agricultural equipment going back to January 2018.
Deere said the deal “addresses the issues raised in the 2022 complaint and brings this case to an end with no finding of wrongdoing.”
The settlement still needs a judge’s approval before it takes effect.
As part of the agreement, Deere committed to making digital repair tools available to farmers and independent service providers for 10 years. That includes access to tools, manuals, and diagnostic software for large machines like tractors, combines, and sugarcane harvesters.
The core complaint in the case was that Deere limited who could repair its equipment, steering farmers toward its own authorized dealer network and inflating repair costs in the process.
What the Settlement Covers
The $99 million fund will be distributed to class members — farms and farmers who qualify based on repair payments made through Deere’s dealer network since January 2018.
The repair tool access commitment goes further than the cash payout. For 10 years, Deere must support customers and independent providers with the “digital tools required for the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair” of its large agricultural equipment.
This was a key demand from plaintiffs and right-to-repair advocates, who argued that locking repair access to authorized dealers created an unfair monopoly over servicing costs.
Deere has consistently denied any wrongdoing throughout the litigation.
FTC Case Still Active
The settlement does not resolve everything on Deere’s legal plate.
A separate lawsuit brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is still moving through the courts. A federal judge ruled in 2025 that Deere must face that case, which accused the company of forcing farmers into its authorized dealer network and driving up repair costs.
The FTC said in a court filing that Deere was blocking farmers from getting the “tools and information necessary to repair their equipment in a timely and cost-effective manner.”
Deere has denied those allegations as well.
The class action settlement resolves the private litigation that began with a 2022 complaint. The FTC case remains a separate and ongoing matter.
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