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The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Deere & Co., on January 15 alleging the company’s repair practices violate competition law. 

The FTC is concerned the OEM has withheld key information and diagnostic tools from farmers and independent repair shops, reports Bloomberg. 

According to the filing: 

“Deere’s increasingly sophisticated agricultural equipment requires a software tool to diagnose and repair problems that relate to electronic functions, and only Deere has the information and knowledge to create this essential tool. By making this tool available only to Deere dealers, Deere forces farmers to turn to Deere dealers for critical repairs rather than complete the repairs themselves or choose an [independent repair shop] that may be cheaper, closer, faster, or more trusted.”

The suit goes on to claim that Deere’s business practices are unlawful and have inflated farmers’ repair costs and “degraded farmers’ ability to obtain timely repairs, which is especially critical in times of planting and harvesting.” 

The state of Illinois and state of Minnesota join the FTC as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. 

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