You bought the tractor. Deere kept the keys.
John Deere locked the software needed to fix its own machines behind its dealers — so a farmer who owned a $500,000 tractor often couldn't legally repair it himself. The government sued. Deere paid.
We grade what the FTC complaint and the settlements establish. Then we carry Deere's side and mark what we won't claim.
What this page is about
Modern John Deere equipment needs a software tool to complete many repairs — and Deere kept the full version of that tool, Service ADVISOR, working only for its authorized dealers. Farmers and independent shops got a stripped-down version, so even simple fixes often had to go through a Deere dealer, at Deere's price and on Deere's schedule. In January 2025 the Federal Trade Commission and five states sued Deere over it.
Deere then agreed to pay $99 million to settle a related class action, and under a 2026 FTC settlement it must open its repair tools to equipment owners and independent shops — the fix it had resisted for years. This page grades the documented record and marks where we stop.
The lock, the lawsuit, and the payout
The FTC and five states sued Deere for locking farmers out of repairs.
FACTIn January 2025 the Federal Trade Commission, joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, sued Deere & Company. The complaint alleged an unfair method of competition: Deere restricted farmers and independent shops from fully repairing the equipment they own, funneling repairs to Deere's authorized dealers.
The lock is a software tool only dealers get in full.
FACTMany repairs on modern Deere equipment require a diagnostic and calibration tool called Service ADVISOR. The fully functional version works only for Deere's authorized dealers and repair facilities; the version available to farmers and independent shops is, in the FTC's words, neither robust nor effective. So even routine fixes could require a dealer.
That drove up repair costs and cost farmers time they couldn't spare.
FACTThe FTC's complaint centers on the harm: restricting the diagnostic software to dealers inflated repair costs and deprived farmers of timely repairs during the narrow planting and harvest windows, when a machine down for days can cost a whole season's crop. The dependence on distant dealers is the mechanism that turns a broken part into a bill and a delay.
Deere agreed to pay $99 million to settle a class action over monopolizing repairs.
FACTSeparately from the FTC case, Deere agreed to pay $99 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the repair market for its equipment. The payout resolves the claims; it is not a court verdict that Deere is an unlawful monopoly.
Under an FTC settlement, Deere must now open up repair — the fix it resisted for years.
FACTThe FTC and five states secured a settlement requiring Deere to make its repair services and tools available to equipment owners and independent shops. Deere had spent years resisting binding right-to-repair rules, pointing instead to a voluntary 2023 memorandum with the American Farm Bureau that farmers and regulators said left the dealer-only software lock in place.
What's proven, and Deere's side
- The record is a government complaint plus two settlements. The dealer-only tool, the alleged harm, the $99 million payout, and the FTC settlement are all documented. That is why they grade to FACT.
- Deere's side, carried. Deere denies wrongdoing and says it already supports repair, pointing to its 2023 memorandum with the Farm Bureau. Both settlements resolve the claims without an admission of liability.
- We don't inflate the numbers.We do not assign a per-farmer dollar loss, and we do not say a court ruled Deere an unlawful monopoly. The FTC alleged unfair competition; the settlements ended the cases before any such verdict.
Ownership with a permanent toll
The tractor is the clearest version of a trick that is spreading: you buy the machine, but the company keeps the software key, so fixing your own property runs through the seller forever. The same fight is on over phones, appliances, wheelchairs, and hospital ventilators. That is what makes it a Corporate State story — a firm using control of code to convert a one-time sale into a lifetime of fees — and a Looting the American Public one, because the people paying the toll are ordinary owners of the thing they already bought.
Questions worth taking seriously
Didn't Deere already agree to support right to repair?
It signed a voluntary 2023 memorandum with the American Farm Bureau. But farmers and the FTC said the dealer-only software lock stayed in place in practice — which is why the lawsuit and the settlement followed. A promise that leaves the lock on isn't the same as opening repair.
Isn't this just one company's problem?
No — Deere is the clearest case of a wider pattern: using a software lock to turn repair into a monopoly. Phones, home appliances, wheelchairs, and medical devices all face versions of the same fight. The tractor just makes it impossible to miss.
Was Deere legally ruled a monopoly?
No. The FTC alleged unfair methods of competition, and the class action alleged monopolization — but both ended in settlements, not a court verdict. Deere denies wrongdoing. We grade the documented conduct and the settlements, not a finding no court made.
If you are named on this page
If you are named on this page, or are a party materially affected by the claims made here, and you wish to respond, correct the record, or add context, use the Contact page. Responses are published verbatim alongside the original claim, with the sender identified and the date of receipt. The channel stays open for the life of the page.
This site aggregates and grades a record that other outlets and primary sources have already put on the record. Every FACT-graded claim above is sourced to court filings, government reports, sworn whistleblower disclosures, published investigative journalism, or named-source statements. The citations are the accountability mechanism; this section is how you get on the record too.
The record
- FTC — FTC and states secure settlement with Deere, advancing farmers' right to repair (2026)
- Troutman Pepper / Regulatory Oversight — FTC and states sue John Deere (the complaint, Service ADVISOR)
- Arnold & Porter — John Deere's $99 million class-action settlement
- Farm Policy News (Univ. of Illinois) — Deere settles class-action right-to-repair suit
- ABC News — John Deere owners will get right to repair under the settlement