RFD TV | Right to Repair Costs Farmers More Than $4 Billion per Year, According to Farm Action
Farm Action’s Joe Maxwell discussed how farm equipment manufacturers’ repair restrictions harm farmers and rural communities.
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Farmers should have the right to fix their own tractors.
The largest farm equipment manufacturers like John Deere have taken away farmers’ right to repair their own equipment by restricting access to basic diagnostic tools.
By withholding the software to diagnose and repair, manufacturers force farmers to go to the nearest authorized dealership, which might be hundreds of miles away. Facing long equipment transports and wait-times for repairs, farmers can lose tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential yields.
These manufacturers are also crushing independent repair shops and rural economies by forbidding everyone except a few authorized dealers from accessing necessary diagnostic tools.
Restoring the right to repair will help us reclaim the spirit of self-sufficiency and innovation in rural America, and progress on this issue is well underway: The Right to Repair movement is gaining momentum at the Federal Trade Commission, in Congress, and in state capitols across the country.
The hard work of Farm Action and coalitions of advocates has already ushered in success: Last spring, Colorado became the first state in the nation to pass a law enshrining the right to repair for agriculture.
But we can’t stop there — we’re building up a movement to ensure Colorado is the first state of many to codify this critical right. Farm Action Fund’s Senior Policy Advisor on Right to Repair, Willie Cade, is pounding the pavement in statehouses across the country, alongside our allies, urging legislators to restore this critical right for farmers as more than a dozen states consider agricultural right to repair legislation.
Taking the Fight to Congress
The Agriculture Right to Repair Act was introduced in the 117th U.S. Senate to restore innovation, flexibility, and economic opportunity to farmers and rural communities across the country. This legislation would counterbalance the excessive power consolidated by global equipment manufacturers by requiring them to share basic diagnostic and repair tools with equipment owners and repair shops. Check out our factsheet.
Pushing for FTC Enforcement
Farm Action recently submitted a public comment calling on the FTC to initiate a rulemaking process on consumers’ right to repair. Our comment illustrated how farm equipment manufacturers use repair restrictions to extend their excessive market power over the original equipment manufacturer market to the repair market. The comment was submitted in support of a petition, put forth by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (U.S. PIRG) and iFixit, calling for a rulemaking under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
We’re also challenging the worst abuser, John Deere, directly. After Farm Action and other farm organizations filed a petition, the FTC opened an investigation into John Deere’s practices. If the FTC determines that Deere has violated antitrust laws, it can order the manufacturer to cease withholding information, prohibit them from continuing to restrict repairs, and even obtain monetary penalties.
Colorado’s law is an and important victory, but we won’t rest until the right to repair has been restored in the other 49 states. With your support, our team can keep fighting for farmers and independent businesses across the nation.
Farm Action’s Joe Maxwell discussed how farm equipment manufacturers’ repair restrictions harm farmers and rural communities.
Through coercive and anticompetitive repair restrictions, farm equipment manufacturers are harming farmers, independent mechanics, and rural communities.
“We’re gonna return a lot of money to the farmer’s pocket and reduce the burden that they suffer,” said Farm Action’s Joe Van Wye.