Through Leah Douglas and Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Industry Fee on Wednesday sued farm apparatus maker Deere, alleging it illegally drives up fix prices via forcing farmers to depend on its approved broker community. The lawsuit argues Deere has unlawfully boosted income via requiring farmers to make use of its community of approved sellers for maintenance, making it tricky for farmers to make use of impartial mechanics or do maintenance themselves, the FTC mentioned in a press unlock. The outgoing Biden management has centered what it sees as anti-competitive practices in agriculture, starting from making improvements to the remedy of hen farmers via meat processing corporations to expanding pageant within the seed sector. It has additionally centered the right-to-repair factor, which cuts throughout more than a few industries, together with smartphones and computer systems. “Unlawful fix restrictions can also be devastating for farmers, who depend on reasonably priced and well timed maintenance to reap their plants and earn their source of revenue,” FTC Chair Lina Khan mentioned within the unlock. The one instrument that permits maintenance of all Deere apparatus is produced via the corporate, which it handiest makes to be had to its broker community, the FTC mentioned in its remark. Because of this, Deere has maintained a 100% marketplace proportion, permitting it to hike costs, it added. A spokesperson for Deere mentioned the corporate had now not but been notified via the FTC. The corporate on Tuesday mentioned it used to be increasing self-repair choices for farmers in a pilot program. Reliance on approved sellers too can reason farmers carrier delays that obstruct crop planting and harvesting, mentioned the grievance, which used to be filed in U.S. District Court docket for the Northern District of Illinois. Illinois and Minnesota joined the FTC as plaintiffs within the lawsuit. The lawsuit would see Deere make its fix equipment to be had to apparatus house owners and impartial fix suppliers, the discharge mentioned. The company’s probe into Deere used to be made public in October. (Reporting via Leah Douglas in Washington and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Enhancing via Jan Harvey and Leslie Adler)
