In its final days, the Biden administration sued John Deere over repair restrictions, calling them “unfair corporate tactics” that hurt farmers. The lawsuit joins a string a Big Ag cases that will soon be under the Trump administration’s watch.
January 15, 2025
by Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
This story was updated to add Deere & Company’s statement.
Deere & Company, one of America’s largest farm equipment manufacturers, was sued Wednesday by federal and state governments for not allowing farmers to repair machines they own — an allegedly unfair business practice that handsomely profits Deere.
In a statement, Deere called the lawsuit “baseless.”
The lawsuit joins a handful of ongoing legal actions and investigations, largely focused on economic power, by the outgoing Biden administration against Big Ag companies. President Joe Biden made antitrust policies a priority during his term in office.
Corteva and Syngenta: The Federal Trade Commission is suing Corteva Agrisciences and Syngenta, two companies that dominate the agrochemical industry, over policies the government says limit generic competition, which would decrease pesticide prices for farmers. The companies have said the policies are not illegal.
ADM: The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Archer Daniels Midland’s possible accounting misconduct. In 2024, ADM, a major grain processor and commodities trader, placed its chief financial officer on administrative leave, and it revised years of sales data reported to its shareholders. The company has said the revisions do not affect the integrity of its overall earnings statements.
Tyson Foods: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating Tyson Foods, one of America’s largest meat companies, over potential violations of antitrust laws, Investigate Midwest reported. It closed several processing plants, leaving its growers with nowhere else to sell and saddled with debt. It also allegedly blocked a competitor from buying a shuttered facility. Tyson Foods has not commented publicly.
Agri Stats: The DOJ is also suing a company named Agri Stats, a little-known data services firm that provides detailed sales to meat processing giants. The company has been accused of facilitating anti-competitive behavior, at a time when meat prices have increased dramatically. Agri Stats has said the lawsuit is “bad for consumers.”
Cases include:
It’s unclear how the cases will proceed with President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is Monday. During his first term, Trump was mostly hands-off when it came to regulating large agricultural firms.
For instance, the agrochemical and seed industry saw three mergers while he was in power. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he signed an executive order allowing meat processing plants to remain open, even as workers fell ill and died in droves. It was later revealed by Congress that Tyson Foods authored an early draft of the executive order.
The latest Biden administration lawsuit focuses on Deere’s policy to not allow its customers to fix the machines they purchase. Instead, farmers have to contact the company and wait for a technician to visit. This can create delays during harvest time when farmers need to be working nearly constantly.
Farmers have been clamoring for years for the so-called “right to repair,” meaning they could fix any issues with their farm equipment, such as tractors or combines, themselves. In 2023, Deere and other farm equipment manufacturers agreed to give farmers slightly more control over repairs.
The lawsuit was filed by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general for Minnesota and Illinois, Deere’s home state. The FTC said Deere’s practice unfairly steered profits to its parts business, which has grown in recent years.
“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice — lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition for independent repair shops.”
Khan is on her way out of the FTC. Even before she worked in government, Khan examined monopolistic behavior in the agriculture industry.
Trump has tapped Andrew Ferguson, now a commissioner on the FTC’s five-person board, to be the agency’s new chair. Ferguson, who previously was chief counsel for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, objected to the lawsuit against Deere.
Saying he supports “right to repair” legislation, Ferguson wrote in his dissent that the action “appears to be taken in haste to beat President Trump into office.” Also, filing the lawsuit “shortchanges an ongoing investigation,” he wrote, adding he believes there is not enough evidence to support a lawsuit.
“The parties are in active negotiations over a fix that, if brought to fruition, could provide meaningful relief to America’s farmers,” he wrote. “I favor settling this litigation but only [sic] if that settlement provides real, tangible benefits to America’s farmers.”
In a statement, Deere said the FTC’s complaint “is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories” that punish innovation.
“It is extremely disappointing that three Commissioners of the FTC chose to file a meritless lawsuit on the eve of the transition to a new Administration,” a Deere executive, Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support, said in the statement. “Our recent discussions with the Commission have revealed that the agency still lacked basic information about the industry and John Deere’s business practices and confirmed that the agency was instead relying on inaccurate information and assumptions.”
Read the full statement here.
A day before the lawsuit was filed, Deere released a statement saying it was expanding farmers’ ability to repair its machinery. The company said its new policies increased farmers’ independence.
In November, Deere reported earning more than $7 billion in net income. It earned more than $10 billion in net income in 2023.
This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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