Judge denies Deere dealer data request in right-to-repair case

DAILY Bites

• Judge denied FTC’s request for Deere’s dealer financial database in antitrust case.

• Deere says that it had already shared key financial data during discovery.

• Lawsuit centers on Deere’s control over repair access for farm equipment.

DAILY Discussion

A federal judge has denied requests from the Federal Trade Commission, five states, and farmer plaintiffs to compel John Deere to produce a key financial database in ongoing antitrust litigation focused on repair restrictions for agricultural equipment.

At the center of the dispute is Deere’s Dealer Financial Analysis dataset — a consolidated spreadsheet that includes detailed financial metrics such as dealer profitability, parts and service revenue, market share, cost absorption, and incentives. Plaintiffs argued that the DFA could shed light on Deere’s alleged monopolization of the repair-service market by showing how the company tracks and optimizes dealer profits.

However, U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston of the Northern District of Illinois ruled on July 7 that the DFA data was not proportional to the needs of the case, given the significant volume of financial data Deere had already produced.

“The court won’t subject Deere to even the minimal burden of producing DFA data that adds no real value when Deere has essentially already produced the information,” Johnston wrote in the order.

Deere had previously turned over extensive discovery, including dealer scorecards, incentive data, transaction-level pricing on parts and repairs, and monthly performance reports. According to the court, the plaintiffs had received data that allowed them to manually conduct the same types of financial analyses the DFA automates.

“On the court’s review, the primary difference between the pre-existing productions and DFA data is that the DFA aggregates agricultural equipment with unrelated business lines,” Johnston said. “To the extent the DFA contains something more than the pre-existing productions, its addition decreases its importance to the litigation.”

The ruling is the latest development in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit filed by the FTC in January 2025, with support from the attorneys general of Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Michigan.

The lawsuit claims that John Deere is becoming “anticompetitive” by restricting repair access and making farmers deal through authorized dealers. Another set of 16 farmer plaintiffs recently brought a comparable complaint, alleging Sherman Antitrust Act violations.

Whether Deere’s proprietary diagnostic software and embedded software — such as the Service ADVISOR platform — discriminatorily bar independent repair shops and owners of equipment from access is at issue. The FTC has asked the court to enjoin Deere from continuing its current practice and compel Deere to provide full access to the tools.

Deere, which has committed itself to fighting “vigorously,” maintains that its repair system is supportive of quality and safety. Deere has also reaffirmed that it has already made necessary information available and that the additional requests are unnecessary.

A broader investigation began in 2022, when the National Farmers Union and certain unions at the state level filed complaints with the FTC, refocusing attention on the right-to-repair movement in agriculture. In 2023, Deere signed a memorandum of understanding at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Convention. 

»Related: Farmers ‘right to repair’ equipment hits 11 state legislatures