German Tractors Are INVADING America, And John Deere Can't Stop It

A brand new John Deere combine froze mid-harvest, right before a storm hit. The farmer knew exactly how to fix it, but locked-down software wouldn’t let him. Stories like this triggered two separate lawsuits, cost Deere over $100 million in settlements, and led to thousands of layoffs across its own hometown factories in Iowa and Illinois. While Deere was fighting regulators, a German tractor brand was quietly building something bigger. Fendt, owned by AGCO, just posted its biggest market share gains ever in North American large ag equipment, right in the exact customer group Deere pushed away.