On May 18, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois preliminarily approved John Deere’s settlement of the In re: Deere & Company Repair Services Antitrust Litigation MDL No. 3030, Case No. 3:22-cv-50188 class action lawsuit. The agreement settles the lawsuit – launched in 2022 ultimately reaching 200,000 plaintiffs – for $99 million. John Deere bears no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement agreement. For a more detailed treatment of the lawsuit and underlying issues, see this article by the National Agricultural Law Center.
“Right to Repair” is the term used by purchasers of farm equipment who are prohibited by the purchase license to do their own or hire third party repair services not authorized by the manufacturer. Major manufacturers of farm equipment – including CNH Industrial (Case IH and New Holland), AGCO (Massey Ferguson, Fendt, and Challenger), and New Holland, as well as John Deere – have had various forms of this restriction, which have been relaxed somewhat by agreements with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Deere and other companies have pointed to four primary justifications for the limitations: emissions compliance under the Clean Air Act, operator safety and liability, protection of investment in intellectual property, and cybersecurity and data privacy. Manufacturers argue that third party repair could lead to bypass of emissions control, safety, and data systems.
The farmers’ argument is straightforward: when a machine breaks down, the time lost waiting for an authorized company repair could be devastating, particularly during narrow planting, application, and harvest windows in relatively remote farming areas. Farmer plaintiffs also argue that the restrictions create an expensive after-purchase repair monopoly. Plaintiffs in the John Deere suit alleged overcharge for repair services.
The agreement validates John Deere’s safety and intellectual property concerns, and distinguishes between repairing a machine (allowed) and modifying its core code to change factory performance (which remains restricted). Deere has also agreed to provide diagnostic tools over a 10-year period.
Eligibility for compensation requires having owned or leased John Deere Large Ag Equipment (all 6000, 7000, 8000, and 9000 Series models of tractors, combines, and harvesters, etc.) and having paid an authorized dealer for repair services between January 10, 2018, and May 2026.
John Deere has granted access to its internal billing database to the settlement administrator, and an outreach campaign is imminent. Notice recipients have until September 15, 2026 to opt out of the settlement to pursue their own claims and a deadline to file claims forms by October 15, 2026. Notice recipients will likely receive pre-filled notices of potential claims with instructions on substantiation, which will likely include itemized dealer service invoices (breaking out labor rates and parts), proof of payment and the Product Identification Numbers (PIN) or serial numbers for each piece of equipment serviced.
A claim portal – www.DeereRepairSettlement.com – has been established but will go live over the summer. Updates on the settlement can be found at this page from ClassAction.org.
Brannan, Andrew. “Settlement Approved in Right to Repair Litigation.” Southern Ag Today 6(23.5). June 5, 2026. Permalink
