John Deere’s answer to the FTC Right To Repair lawsuit arrived last week in the form of a new digital diagnosis and repair product for John Deere machines and Hagie STS high-clearance sprayers and corn detasselers.
For $195 a year for each machine linked in a farmer’s Operations Center account, John Deere says customers in the U.S. and Canada can now “maintain, diagnose, repair and protect” equipment. A John Deere customer with a large fleet of green and yellow machines can purchase the “Entire Organization Customer Fleet” annual license for $4,995.
Independent service technicians are also able to obtain and use Operations Center PRO Service. That license costs $5,995 per year.
What Are Farmers and Precision Ag Experts Saying?
The tool is so fresh and new to the market farmers and technicians haven’t had time to put it to use.
Sixth generation Nebraska farmer Lukas Frieke recently switched a good chunk of his on-farm technology and equipment fleet over to John Deere machines. He says its the level of support that his local John Deere dealer is providing that prompted the switch.
Frieke, who also raises hogs on his farm outside Ulysses, thinks the release of this tool signals a new mindset at the manufacturer.
“I think Deere realized during the Right to Repair stuff that they need to keep brand loyalty, and one of the biggest issues with the digitization of our equipment lines is the ability to be supported,” Frieke says. “It doesn’t matter who is doing the troubleshooting or fixing, it matters that it’s a Deere product.
“It also lessens the load on dealership staff — it allows quality repairs to shine and evens the playing field for all the repair people,” he adds.
Right to Repair Advocate Speaks
Beltway lobbyist and long-time Right to Repair advocate Willie Cade says he has the app and plans to spend the next couple weeks putting it through its paces. He cautions farmers to do their homework before they pay the license fees for the new app.
“There’s been a long history of John Deere making these kinds of promises and not coming through,” he says. “We really need to get this tool in hand and look through it.”
Cade admits the release signifies a dash of forward progress in the Right to Repair movement, but, in his opinion, John Deere still maintains “some control” over the repair process within PRO Service.
“That’s just not a free market — that’s not free at all,” he adds. “It gives them all the control.”
Cade agrees with Darr at Iowa State: Go dig into the app and figure out what it can and can’t do before you go on social media and give your opinion on it.
“Then, we can continue the advocacy we’ve been doing for the last seven years,” Cade says. “Maybe the ship is doing a little turn (for the better), but we need to do a full 180.”
John Deere’s Response
Farm Journal reached out to John Deere to ask more questions beyond what was shared in the initial press release. Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support for John Deere, provides the following answers:
Farm Journal: Is the release of PRO Service in response to the FTC v. John Deere and Right to Repair lawsuits?
Caldwell: The launch of PRO Service is consistent with our long-standing approach to developing new solutions that deliver value for our customers. For many decades, John Deere has steadily expanded its support for customer repairs with technical manuals and evolving into the robust digital offerings that are available today, including: Operations Center, Equipment Mobile, and Shop.Deere.com. John Deere will also continue to develop solutions that enhance customers’ ability to use, maintain, diagnose, repair, and protect their equipment.
Farm Journal: In previous statements, John Deere representatives have claimed releasing a fully capable digital service tool to customers and independent technicians could potentially compromise and open its machines up to being incorrectly coded or digitally manipulated in some way that would render those machines unsafe or hamper performance. Have those concerns been mitigated in some way within this new tool?
Caldwell: We’ve developed Operations Center PRO Service to deliver new capabilities for equipment owners to use, maintain, diagnose, repair, and protect their equipment without compromising important factors like safety and regulatory compliance. We will also continue to develop new capabilities and deliver those as they become available.
Farm Journal: What is the No. 1 aspect of this new service tool that you think is important to convey to farmers who use John Deere equipment?
Caldwell: Operations Center PRO Service delivers John Deere’s most expansive, innovative, and economical self-repair capabilities yet, and we’re proud of that. New and enhanced features include the ability to install software when replacing electronic components or controllers, also known as reprogramming.
Farm Journal: Are there any other thoughts you’d like to share about this new tool?
Caldwell: With this launch, our message to our customers is very clear. Whether you want the support of your professionally trained and trusted John Deere dealer, to work with another local service provider, or to fix your machine yourself – we’ve created additional capabilities for you to choose the option that best fits your needs and helps you run it your way.
