Local dealerships most likely. The town I lived in had 3-4 different dealers 30 years ago, at best they have 1-2 now. A lot of the non-chain shops were run out of business (probably often by their own accord, but not always) just like in other industries.

without a lot of knowledge my wag would be that the technology really is beneficial over non-smart competitors and that the other options probably have the same legal problems anyways.

Farmers tend have a tremendous amount of brand loyalty and farmers grew up loving John Deere.

John Deere always promoted the idea that you should be all-in with them. I know a lot of farmers absolutely hate them.