The US Department of Agriculture and the Federal Trade Commission have asked farmers, independent repair shops and current and former employees of equipment companies to help them identify possible anticompetitive conduct by agricultural equipment manufacturers and dealers. The agencies announced the request for information on Wednesday, 7 October.
They said the inquiry responds to a "growing number of complaints" received by USDA about barriers farmers face in buying and servicing equipment. The agencies want to know whether manufacturers and dealers are restricting competition and, if so, how that affects farmers, independent repair shops and rural economies.
The questions cover dealer networks and territories: the sales territories assigned to dealers, limits on buying equipment from dealers outside one's territory, limits on getting service outside it, and whether dealers coordinate on territory, pricing or customer access. Commenters are asked for first-hand experiences or documented cases of restrictions, penalties and retaliation. "These barriers increase the cost of production and thereby disincentivize the production of food domestically while driving up food prices for consumers," the agencies said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote on X that farmers often raise the restrictions they face in repairing their own equipment, which add costs and lost labour time. FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson wrote that farmers "shouldn't suffer retaliation for fixing their own equipment, or shopping around for better prices."
In July 2026 the FTC and the attorneys general of Illinois, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin reached a settlement with John Deere in a right-to-repair lawsuit brought during the Biden administration. USDA said it is also focused on the long rise in farm input costs.
Public comments are open until 7 December 2026 on regulations.gov, and the agencies will also accept confidential comments sent to the FTC's office of the secretary.
Photo: Stephan Trebs / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Northern Ag Network
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