Modern day farm equipment has become a technological nightmare for farmers and independent repair shops. Today’s tractors and combines rely heavily on software to operate as a single combine can have as many as 125 software-connected sensors. While that software has enhanced the precision and overall capabilities of farm equipment, it has also become a way for manufacturers to build a monopoly over the repair of tractors and combines. That monopoly has resulted in higher costs and long wait times for farmers and fewer opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start a repair business.
Just three companies manufacture 95% of large tractors in North America and those same three manufacturers control the entire market for combines, giving them immense power. This equipment is a major investment by farmers. According to the University of Illinois, estimated list prices for a new tractor in 2025 ranged from $216,444 to $778,865. Meanwhile the price of equipment repairs has increased 41% since 2020, adding to the skyrocketing costs farmers are paying for other inputs such as fertilizer. In exchange for these high prices farmers get locked into using the equipment manufacturer’s authorized dealer network for any repairs.
Simple diagnostic error codes often require a technician from an authorized dealer to service a machine because manufacturers limit needed diagnostic tools to their dealer networks. These are not issues farmers can ignore either as simple software errors can send a machine into “limp mode.” This leaves tractors and combines disabled in the field until a technician can arrive often simply to plug in a thumb drive to unlock the machine. This results in farmers waiting long periods of time, often during critical planting and harvesting seasons, to get equipment fixed. The Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund found that repair delays cost farmers $3 billion nationwide. Manufacturers monopoly over repair also cost farmers another $1.2 billion in excessive repair costs.
In recent years as a response to pressure from farmers and other advocates, equipment manufacturers have entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to make customer-facing diagnostic tools available to farmers and independent repair shops. However, the PIRG Education Fund tested John Deere’s “Customer Service ADVISOR” tool and found it lacks the full range of capabilities authorized dealers have. Limitations like these, according to the Federal Trade Commission, create strong incentives for farmers to default into using an authorized dealer for repairs even when an independent repair technician might be able to fix a problem.
Manufacturers have also used their control over repair to aggressively consolidate their dealership networks. One of the key tools manufacturers have used is control of dealership contracts, which give manufacturers control over who a dealership sells to. Deere for example has been particularly aggressive, rolling out a Dealership of Tomorrow program in 2002 that has pushed dealerships to consolidate. Today over 80% of their dealerships are owned by larger chains. Since 1996 the number of Deere dealership locations nationwide has declined from 3,400 to 1,544, further limiting options for farmers. This is a void independent repair shops could help fill if they had access to the needed repair tools.
Minnesota farmers have detailed a range of harms from these restrictions on repair. A dairy farmer in Kanabec County had harvest interrupted because of an error code that sent his tractor into limp mode. In St. Louis County a specialty crop/vegetable farmer watched their seed potatoes rot while waiting months for repairs. Dealership consolidation has made it harder for a corn and soybean farmer in Yellow Medicine County to access needed services while a rancher in Otter Tail County had to haul his tractor over 100 miles for repairs after his local dealership dropped the brand.
Things could be changing for farmers in Minnesota. The Federal Trade Commission, along with the attorneys general in five states including Minnesota, have agreed to a settlement in an antitrust lawsuit against John Deere for allegedly monopolizing the market for repair. The settlement, which would last for 10 years, requires Deere to make the same repair resources it provides its authorized dealers, to farmers and independent repair shops on fair and reasonable terms.
Those limitations, according to PIRG, include redaction of key diagnostic information such as explanations of error codes, lack of easy-to-use links to error codes, and the inability to access Deere’s diagnostic support hub and product improvements.
Since its founding in 1918, Minnesota Farmers Union has advocated for a fairer and more democratic economy that supports farmers, small businesses, workers, consumers and communities. The Antimonopoly Program seeks to connect the impact of this growing concentration across the economy and elevate the voices of those directly impacted by these challenges. Read more from the Antimonopoly program here.