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John Deere has reached a $99 million settlement in a long-standing class action lawsuit concerning the “right to repair” issue.

The money, which will be deposited into a class settlement fund and paid to plaintiffs, resolves a 2022 multi-district complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for northern Illinois with no finding of wrongdoing. The litigation alleged that Deere monopolized the repair service market by intrinsically tying machinery sales to its own repair services so that farmers or independent dealers could not do the work themselves. 

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs claimed Deere intentionally made “crucial software and repair tools inaccessible to farmers and independent repair shops.” By cornering the repair market, the filing alleged Deere could artificially inflate prices without competition.

“John Deere is indisputably the biggest player in agricultural machinery markets in the United States. Deere wields significant economic power in the market for large tractors and combines in North America and has a larger market share than that of the next two biggest tractor makers, Case New Holland and Kubota Corp., combined,” the lawsuit reads.

The consumer interest advocacy Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) called the $99 million settlement “a relatively minor financial penalty” for its actions in a response statement to the news, estimating “that repair restrictions from all manufacturers combined cost farmers $4.2 billion per year.” 

The settlement agreement also requires Deere to make tools available to “enable farmers and IRPs [independent repair shops] to diagnose and repair problems without having to use the services of an authorized dealer.”

These tools must be available for at least one decade based on the agreement.

“The most important thing is for farmers to be able to fix their stuff,” said Nathan Proctor, senior director of U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign. “We look forward to seeing how Deere works to remove the remaining barriers to repair — and we promise to continue to advocate for farmers to be treated fairly by every equipment maker.” 

Notably, the Federal Trade Commission’s 2025 antitrust lawsuit against Deere alleging the same actions remains ongoing. Last June, a federal judge rejected Deere’s attempt to dismiss that case, ruling that the company must answer government allegations for cornering the repair market. 

In a statement, Denver Caldwell, Deere’s vice president of aftermarket and customer support, said this about the settlement: “As we continue to innovate industry-leading equipment and technology solutions supported by our world-class dealer network, we are equally committed to providing customers and other service providers with access to repair resources.”

Caldwell highlighted John Deere’s Operations Center Pro Service initiative as one way Deere is doing that. The tool lets farmers and independent machine shops access and clear trouble codes, diagnose, reprogram, calibrate, repair and protect their equipment.

The $99 million settlement will be used to pay attorneys, lead plaintiffs and litigation expenses, among other logistical expenses. After that, the rest will be divided among eligible farmers impacted by the practices after 2018. Claim forms will be made available at some point at .

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