Not a Surprise

Attempting to outflank right-to-repair legislation, John Deere made promises to ease repair of their tractors and other agricultural equipment.

They lied.

This is not a surprise.  Extracting maximum money to the detriment of their customers is a core business strategy for Deere:

US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has sent a letter to John May, CEO of agricultural equipment maker Deere & Company, questioning whether John Deere is living up to the promises it made to support people's right to repair.

And if it's not fulfilling those promises, it may be failing in its obligations under America's Clean Air Act, she added.

In January 2023, following years of legal challenges from farmers wanting to simply fix their own farm equipment outside authorized dealerships, John Deere signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

The agreement [PDF] calls for the manufacturing giant to provide farmers and independent repair shops with the tools, software, and documentation necessary to fix broken Deere-made agricultural machines, such as tractors and harvesters. In exchange, the AFBF agreed "to refrain from introducing, promoting, or supporting federal or state 'Right to Repair' legislation" that goes beyond what's promised in the MOU.

Essentially, Deere promised to play nice and help people fix their machines, by providing the tools and support needed, and the federation would back off from pushing for tough laws enshrining the right to repair.

But according to Senator Warren's missive [PDF], dated Wednesday, John Deere has not lived up to those commitments, and the MOU looks like a gambit to sabotage strong right-to-repair legislation, which is being adopted in various states and has the support of the Biden administration. 

John Deere has been promising to play nice for some time, and they never keep their promises.

Stop negotiating, and fire up the lawsuits, lobbying for right to repair laws, and institute administrative actions to make their business plan untenable.

Trusting the company is a losing proposition.