FTC Settles With John Deere in Major Right-to-Repair Victory
Original: The FTC Settlement With John Deere Is a Huge Win for the Right-to-Repair Movement
Why This Matters
Sets a binding federal precedent for manufacturer repair access obligations across the agricultural equipment sector.
The US FTC announced a settlement with John Deere on July 8, 2026, requiring the tractor maker to give farmers and third-party repair shops equal access to repair tools, software, and resources provided to official dealers — enforceable for 10 years.
The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with John Deere, resolving a 2025 lawsuit that accused the company of unlawfully maintaining monopoly power in farm equipment repair services. Under the agreement, John Deere must provide farmers and independent repair shops the same access to diagnostic software, tools, and resources available to authorized dealers — including the ability to read and reset codes and pair with other software systems. The FTC will monitor compliance for 10 years. The settlement follows over a decade of advocacy by farmers and repair rights groups who argued that restricted access to repair tools caused costly delays during harvest seasons. The FTC first began its investigation in 2021 under then-chair Lina Khan. Separately, in April 2026, John Deere agreed to pay $99 million in a class action lawsuit filed in 2022. Repair advocates say the FTC settlement delivers far more practical benefit than the monetary settlement. John Deere stated the agreement aligns with its existing practices, calling it a formalization of its ongoing commitment to repair access. Consumer group US PIRG and Repair.org both welcomed the decision while pledging to monitor implementation closely.