John Deere’s $99 Million Settlement: Class Lawyers Must File Their Fee Request by October 30 — Up to $45 Million Plus $6 Million in Costs. One of the Farms That Sued Has Already Objected, Estimating $240 to $395 per Claimant.

The deadlines have not moved. The next court filing that matters to farmers is due on October 30, 2026: the lawyers’ request for attorneys’ fees. Judge Iain D. Johnston’s amended preliminary-approval order of August 17, 2026 lists it in the docket text: “Fee Motion Deadline is 10/30/2026; Opt-Out and Objection Deadlines are 12/4/2026; Deadline for Final Approval Motion is 12/18/2026; and Deadline for filing Claims Forms is 12/31/2026. Fairness Hearing set for 1/19/2027 at 10:00 AM.”

The court-approved notice already sets the ceilings. Class counsel “will also apply for an award of attorneys’ fees not to exceed $45 million, reimbursement of litigation costs and expenses not to exceed $6 million, and $25,000 service awards to each of the Named Plaintiffs.” The notice adds that the fee request “will not exceed one-third of the combined value of the Settlement Fund and the value of the injunctive relief.” All of that comes out of the $99 million cash fund (plus interest since January 15, 2026) before farmers are paid.

The timing gives class members a window. By our count, the fee motion is due 35 days before the December 4 objection deadline, and the notice says you “may also object to the requests for attorneys’ fees, litigation costs and expenses, and service awards.” As of October 11, 2026, we could not confirm from the public docket whether the fee motion has been filed; check the docket directly. The actual amount requested will only be known once it is filed.

The class is “all persons and entities who purchased Repair Services for Deere Large Agricultural Equipment from John Deere or its authorized Dealers in the United States between January 10, 2018 and May 18, 2026.” Covered machines are “large and medium tractors (all 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 Series models); combines; cotton pickers; cotton strippers; sugarcane harvesters; tillage, seeding (including planters), and application equipment and sprayers.”

There is no fixed amount. Shares are pro rata by dealer labor hours. The notice gives an example: “if during the Class Period Deere-authorized Dealers expended on your Large Agricultural Equipment 1% of all labor hours included in validly submitted claims, you would receive 1% of the Net Settlement Fund.” Repairs under an extended warranty you bought count. “Repairs made pursuant to Deere factory warranties are not eligible.”

Money is already being spent on notice. On August 21, 2026, the judge approved $244,954.58 to the administrator, Angeion Group, and $173,014.50 to Monument Economics Group, which helps with “pre-populating claim forms.” That is $417,969.08 in total, by our arithmetic. He also allowed further notice and administration payments “up to an aggregate of $1,000,000.00, without further order from the Court.”

On timing, the notice is plain: “it is not known precisely how much each eligible claimant will receive or when payments will be made.” No payments go out until the court grants final approval after the January 19, 2027 hearing, “any such appeals are resolved and the claims process has been completed.”

On June 29, 2026, Wilson Farms Land and Cattle Co., one of the named plaintiffs, filed an “Objection to Final Approval” (Dkt. 348). According to the filing, class counsel “removed Wilson Farms as a Class Representative” after it opposed the deal. It says it “intends to appear through counsel at the Fairness Hearing.”

The objection argues the cash fund is too small. It estimates that after fees and costs the net fund will be “in the $48 to $79 million range,” or “between 4.1% and 13.9%” of the repair-labor overcharge damages calculated by class counsel’s own expert. Its per-farm estimate: “Assume 200,000 Class members submit valid claims... the average recovery is likely going to be approximately $240 to $395 per claimant.” For an average farm of about 470 acres, it says, that is “$0.51 to $0.84 per acre.” These are the objector’s numbers, not the court’s or the administrator’s. The real amount depends on the fees awarded and on how many hours are claimed.

It also attacks the repair-access part. It calls Deere’s obligation “practically unenforceable” and says the agreement “contains carveouts that permit Deere to unilaterally remove essential Repair Resources.” Deere denies wrongdoing, and the court has not ruled on the objection. One thing class members should know before joining an objection: under the notice, the court “can only approve or deny the Settlement as submitted.” If it denies approval, “no Settlement payments will be made, the injunction will not go into effect, and the lawsuit will continue against Deere.”

• Claim deadline: December 31, 2026. File online at DeereRepairSettlement.com or by mail. “Filing a claim form is the only way to receive money from the Settlement.” If you received a notice with a Notice ID and Confirmation Code, Deere’s records are used. If you received none, or the data misses repairs, “you will need to provide records or documentation.”
• Opt-out deadline: December 4, 2026 (postmarked or sent by). Mail a signed letter to Deere Repair Services Antitrust Litigation, Attn: Exclusions, P.O. Box 58220, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Opting out means no payment, but you keep your own claims.
• Objection deadline: December 4, 2026 (postmarked). Send it in writing to the Clerk of the Court, 327 South Church Street, Rockford, IL 61101, and to class counsel and Deere’s counsel as listed in the notice. Checking the fee motion after October 30 is how you see what you would be objecting to.
• Hearing: January 19, 2027, 10:00 a.m. Central, Courtroom 5200, Rockford. Attending is optional.

You do not need to file anything to get the repair-access relief. It “applies uniformly to you and all members of the Settlement Class, regardless of whether you file a claim form.”

The court-authorized site is DeereRepairSettlement.com, run by Angeion Group: 1-844-644-4294, info@DeereRepairSettlement.com, 1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210, Philadelphia, PA 19103. The August disbursement motion shows the notice plan used postcards, email, a media campaign and “fraud monitoring set-up.” A real notice gives you a Notice ID and Confirmation Code to use on that site. If in doubt, type the address yourself rather than clicking a link. The notice asks you not to call the court: “PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE.”

The FTC deal is a separate case. The FTC and five states (Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin) announced their own settlement with Deere on July 8, 2026 in FTC v. Deere & Company, No. 3:25-cv-50017, before the same judge. The settlement site says it “does not provide for any monetary recovery for individual class members.” In a joint paper filed July 27, 2026, Deere and the class plaintiffs told the court the repair resources in both deals are “the same in substance and meaning,” and that both run “for ten years from the date the Court approves or enters” them. We could not confirm whether the judge has signed the FTC order.

Construction and forestry machines are not covered. A separate proposed class action, Christy Webber & Company v. Deere & Company, No. 1:26-cv-05637 (N.D. Ill.), was filed May 14, 2026. It covers buyers of “Restricted Deere C&F Repairs, or Deere C&F Parts” from May 14, 2022. That case has no settlement. Riding mowers are not on this settlement’s equipment list either, so a mower transmission problem is not part of this case.

The farmers’ lawsuit, consolidated in Rockford since 2022, alleged that Deere “violated the federal antitrust laws by engaging in an anticompetitive scheme to withhold from customers and IRPs certain repair tools for Large Agricultural Equipment, which led customers to pay more for repair services.” IRPs are independent repair providers. “John Deere denies these allegations,” and the court has not decided who is right. The FTC’s own lawsuit, filed in January 2025, made a similar allegation. In the FTC’s words, Deere “unlawfully acquired and maintained monopoly power in markets for repair services for Deere farm equipment.”

If approved, the settlement requires Deere to give farmers and independent shops the digital repair tools dealers use, on “fair and reasonable terms.” That includes future tools once access is granted to “over 50 percent of Deere dealer locations.” The court keeps enforcement power for ten years. The cash is the part with the deadline. Whether the $99 million turns into meaningful checks depends on the fee award requested by October 30, the objections due December 4 and the judge’s ruling after January 19, 2027.