I read that article a few weeks ago. I really wonder if all the data collection ability that John Deere is building into their tractors (and therefore, according to them, is making them off limits for other people to diagnose and repair anything on their tractor) is really worth it to the average farmer?
If you look at farming in the last century, technology has increased the farmers yields tremendously. Because of the higher yields the price they get for the product has dropped (in terms of today's value) and the cost to grow crops increases at the same time . The cost to grow a crop rises faster than the additional income provided by increased yields. Farming is a victim of it's own success. As a result small farmers go out of business only to be gobbled up by remaining farmers who have to have more acres to spread their costs over as they get less real income per acre.
It is a stupid, no win direction that farming is headed. Yet it is labeled as progress. John Deere is cheerleading us in that direction. If the small farmer goes out of business, that is actually good for them because it means a large corporate farm with deep pockets can take over the smaller acrage and buy their high tech, super expensive equipment.
