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Back in 2023, John Deere
and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) signed a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) giving farmers the right to fix their own
equipment. Before this MOU, farmers had to have their equipment
fixed by John Deere dealers using authorized parts. This severely
limited farmers' ability to get their John Deere brand equipment
fixed and could lead to lost revenue if their farm equipment was
still broken-down during harvest seasons. In addition, this was more
costly for the farmers, as they were not able to look for local
professionals to fix their equipment, instead having to pay the
increased cost of using a certified dealer and more expensive parts.
The current lawsuit regards the main tool that John Deere uses to
diagnose and fix their equipment. This primary tool is known as the
Customer Service ADVISOR tool. According to John Deere’s website,
“ADVISOR is a digital database of operator and technical manuals.”
This tool can be used to diagnose problems with John Deere equipment
that may not be able to be diagnosed by your average mechanic.
According to the FTC’s lawsuit, this tool is not available to
farmers who purchase John Deere equipment and tools. Rather, the
ADVISOR tool is only given to John Deere dealers. With this tool,
John Deere dealers are able to diagnose problems that go deeper than
a simple fix.
For example, if a farmer’s John Deere tractor were to break down,
they may try to fix it themselves before resorting to paying a
professional to fix the issue. If the issue goes deeper than a
simple replacement, the farmer may need to diagnose the issue and
cannot do so on a John Deere tractor without the ADVISOR tool. If
this is the case, the farmer would have to take their tractor into a
John Deere dealer.
The issue of farmers having
the right to repair their own equipment has been an ongoing one.
There is a movement called “Right to Repair” that has been fighting
for farmer’s rights to repair their own equipment. “Right to Repair”
has been the primary idea behind the MOU that John Deere signed with
the AFBF, but also the MOUs that other large name farm equipment
retailers have also signed. It is also the primary idea behind this
most recent lawsuit against John Deere. In a statement given by
Chair Lina M. Khan of the FTC regarding this lawsuit, “the
Commission has made it a priority to protect Americans’ right to
repair their products and to ensure that independent mechanics are
not being unlawfully shut out from the market.” Khan goes on to
argue that, as technology becomes more advanced, farmers are going
to need access to more advanced tools to diagnose and fix their own
equipment. “This work,” Khan writes, “will be especially important
as continued technological advances…will create new areas where
repair restrictions inflate costs, create frustration, and harm
competition.” Those in favor of getting farmers access to the John
Deere ADVISOR tool want to make sure that farmers have ways to fix
their own farm equipment even as farm equipment becomes more
advanced.
It should be noted that, of the five members of the FTC that voted
on filing this lawsuit, two voted against it. One of these
Commissioners, Andrew N. Ferguson, made a dissenting statement on
the lawsuit, joined by the other Commissioner, Melissa Holyoak.
Ferguson calls this lawsuit politically motivated, stating it is a
“Democratic majority’s decision.” In addition, Ferguson argues that
the solutions that are being worked on now have not yet come to
fruition, and getting into another legal battle will not provide a
real solution faster. Additionally, he states that the market is
very complex, and that this lawsuit is not one that addresses that
fact.
The website Successful Farming published an article in 2020 that
provides some additional support to Furguson’s argument. According
to Jessica Wesson, the author of this article, “the idea that
farmers cannot fix their equipment without access to the machine’s
software and code” is a false notion. She also cites that there have
been instances where farmers have been injured or killed because of
modified equipment, according to the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers (AEM).
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An alternative solution that
Successful Farming proposes in their article is R2R Solutions. R2R
Solutions is an online resource that provides farmers with similar
access to information that tools like John Deere’s ADVISOR provides.
To learn more about R2R, you can visit their website
here. (https://r2rsolutions.org/)
How is this going to affect
the farmers of Logan County? Depending on where you are in the
county it could affect you a lot or a little. According to the
location finder on John Deere’s website, there is one certified
dealer in Logan County. This is AHW LLC in New Holland. If your
farmland is in or near New Holland, getting your agricultural
equipment in to be serviced is not going to be nearly as far of a
trek as if your farm is in Beason. The time you are waiting for your
equipment to be repaired can also vary greatly, with simple fixes
being able to be completed in a day, and more complex problems
requiring days or weeks to resolve.
Where you fall on this issue likely comes down to how much control
you would like to have over the repairs of your equipment. Do you
want to have access to a tool that can help you diagnose more
specific issues on your farming equipment, or would you rather leave
that to someone else. However you may feel about this issue, the
lawsuit is moving forward, and the jury is still out on the ruling.
Resources:
1.
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/
press-releases/2025/01/ftc-states-sue-deere
-company-protect-farmers-unfair-corporate
-tactics-high-repair-costs#:~:text=The%20
Federal%20Trade%20Commission%20today
,Khan.
2.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-
64206913
3.
https://www.deere.com/en/parts-and-
service/manuals-and-training/customer-
service-advisor/+
4.
https://www.fb.org/issue/right-to-repair
5.
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_
gov/pdf/deere-lina-khan-statement-
final.pdf
6.
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_
gov/pdf/deere-ferguson-dissent-final.pdf
7.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/
machinery/farmers-who-own-modern-
equipment-can-still-perform-95-of-repairs-on-
their-own
8.
https://r2rsolutions.org/
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