April 9, 2026 Farming equipment manufacturer John Deere has agreed to a $99 million settlement in a long-running right-to-repair dispute with farmers, marking a significant shift in how agricultural equipment can be serviced. The deal also requires Deere to provide digital repair and diagnostic tools for at least 10 years, addressing one of the core issues that forced farmers to rely on authorised dealers.
The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit filed by farmers who argued they were overcharged for repairs due to restricted access to software and tools. While Deere said the agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing, it will compensate eligible farmers who paid authorised dealers for large equipment repairs from January 2018.
Under the terms, plaintiffs are expected to recover between 26 per cent and 53 per cent of overcharge damages, according to court documents. That is well above the typical recovery range of 5 per cent to 15 per cent in similar cases. The financial component is paired with a more structural change: Deere must provide the tools needed for maintenance, diagnosis and repair of tractors, combines and other machinery.
That provision addresses a longstanding pain point in the industry. Farmers have often been unable to fix their own equipment due to software locks, forcing them to wait for authorised technicians. In some cases, they resorted to hacking their own machines just to complete basic repairs and avoid costly downtime.
The dispute has also had broader market effects. Limited repair access drove up demand for older, easier-to-service machinery, pushing prices significantly higher. In some cases, decades-old tractors were selling for as much as $60,000, as farmers prioritised reliability and independence over newer, software-restricted equipment.
The new agreement builds on a 2023 memorandum of understanding in which Deere began allowing third parties limited access to repair tools, provided its intellectual property remained protected. The settlement formalises and expands those commitments, making them legally binding for the first time.
The case is not fully closed. A judge still needs to approve the settlement, and Deere continues to face a separate lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, which alleges the company harmed competition by restricting repair access.
The outcome is being closely watched beyond agriculture. Right-to-repair debates are expanding into sectors including automotive and consumer electronics, where manufacturers are increasingly controlling how products are serviced after purchase.
