The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorneys general from Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin announced a settlement with John Deere on August 6 or 7, 2026, requiring the company to provide farmers and independent repair shops full access to diagnostic and repair tools including software previously limited to authorized dealers [1, 2, 3].
The settlement follows a 2025 antitrust lawsuit filed by the FTC and the five states alleging that John Deere unlawfully maintained monopoly power over repair services for its farm equipment, restricting access to repair tools and software to authorized dealerships only [1, 2, 3]. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said, "For too long, Arizona farmers and independent mechanics have been at the mercy of Deere’s monopoly over repair tools, forced to wait — and pay — for authorized dealers just to fix broken tractors and other equipment" [1].
Under the settlement, John Deere must make available the same repair services and software capabilities to equipment owners and independent repair shops that it currently provides exclusively to its authorized dealers [1, 2, 3]. The agreement also bars Deere dealers from retaliating against owners or repair shops who choose to fix their own equipment rather than paying Deere for repairs [1].
John Deere will pay $1 million to the five states to cover antitrust enforcement costs and will be under strict compliance oversight for 10 years, which may be extended if the terms of the agreement are violated [1, 3]. This is the second right-to-repair settlement Deere has reached in 2026. In April, the company agreed to pay $99 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by farmers over similar repair restrictions [1, 2].
John Deere stated the settlement formalizes and reinforces their existing commitments to repair access and customer transparency [2]. Repair advocacy groups welcomed the outcome. Willie Cade, board member of Repair.org, said, "After years of fighting for the right to repair, this order gives farmers real hope. But promises on paper must become tools in farmers’ hands, and we will be watching implementation every step of the way" [2]. Nathan Proctor, senior right to repair campaign director at US PIRG, added, "We should be able to fix our own stuff. This settlement from the FTC gives farmers more and better options to repair their equipment. It is a win for farmers and all of us who want a more fixable world" [3].
The original lawsuit was filed in January 2025. The case led to the April 2026 $99 million class-action settlement and culminated in the August 2026 right-to-repair agreement [1, 2]. Compliance monitoring begins immediately under the terms of the latest settlement [1].
