Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating Deere & Co. to determine whether the tractor giant’s equipment repair policies violate consumer protection laws, according to a public filing.
- The investigation, which began in 2021, is focused on repair restrictions placed on equipment hardware and any software, filings show. The probe was made public last week after data analytics company Hargrove & Associates Inc moved to quash an FTC subpoena associated with the case.
- Deere said in a statement to Agriculture Dive that it is “cooperating with the FTC” and cannot provide further comment during an ongoing investigation.
Dive Insight:
Deere has faced broad pushback and a number of lawsuits over its repair policies, with farmers saying they have to take in broken equipment to dealerships and overpay for fixes even when they have the tools and knowledge to repair it themselves.
While there’s burgeoning momentum to enshrine farmers’ right to repair their own equipment in law, a memorandum signed between Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation has limited progress on the state and federal level.
Under the memorandum, the Farm Bureau agreed to refrain from lobbying for right-to-repair legislation in exchange for commitments from Deere to supply farmers and third-party repair shops with the information necessary to repair machinery. States such as California and Minnesota have exempted agriculture in their right-to-repair laws, and Colorado remains the only state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors following legislation passed last year.
However, the memorandum failed to fully address farms’ issues, according to a report from Public Interest Research Group, which has been at the forefront of the fight for right-to-repair. Repair materials provided to farms withholds or redacts “information required to independently complete many repairs,” PIRG found.
A court ruled against the tractor giant’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit from farmers around right-to-repair policy last year. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is also exploring whether Deere’s policies violate the Clean Air Act, which requires manufacturers to provide written instructions that repairs can be performed by any repair establishment or individual.
The FTC is investigating whether Deere violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits companies from misleading consumers or engaging in unfair practices that affect commerce. Nathan Proctor, PIRG’s U.S. senior right-to-repair campaign director, said in a statement the investigation is “good news for farmers.”
“When farmers can’t access the proprietary software tools which are required to diagnose or complete repairs, that means they have to wait for an authorized technician before they can finish their work,” Proctor said. “The weather doesn’t wait on a dealership’s schedule — a delay could mean the loss of your harvest.”