You’ve probably heard stories about tech companies like Apple and Tesla preventing ordinary consumers from repairing their own products. The situation has led to increased interest in the fledgling “right-to-repair” movements.
The issue has also reared its ugly head in the farming community with John Deere informing hard-working Americans that they must bring their tractors to an approved technician to solve a variety of problems with highly computerized new equipment.
Fortunately, the farmers fought back and recently scored a big victory over the corporation.
Here’s what The Western Journal reported:
A memorandum of understanding between the venerable agricultural implement maker and the American Farm Bureau Federation allows farmers access to John Deere software, specialty tools and repair training.
The company previously claimed a proprietary interest in these items, allowing only John Deere technicians to service newer equipment and in effect creating a monopoly.
The issue has been festering for several years, and the resolution Sunday represents a substantial victory for farmers, increasingly pressed from all sides.
There have been efforts toward right-to-repair legislation in the United States and Canada, and nine Illinois farmers filed a class action lawsuit against John Deere, the publication Farm Equipment reported Monday.
“Every time we take a truck or tractor in, it’s $175-200 an hour to get something serviced,” Jim Leverich, who has a thousand Wisconsin acres growing soybeans and corn, said prior to the MOU.
“Many of us could do that ourselves, or we could hire a technician on our own farms to do it, but we can’t get the software,” Leverich said.
The news sparked some celebration on social media this week.
I visited the John Deere booth at #CES2023 on Saturday to grill them on questions about right to repair, vulnerability disclosure, and more.
This news came out the next day: https://t.co/Doq5nTMhne pic.twitter.com/KFwvBjvyOF
— Shannon Morse (@Snubs) January 9, 2023
John Deere is embracing the "right to repair" movement, allowing farmers to fix their own tractors without company parts. pic.twitter.com/skgrR4yya3
— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) January 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/Official_WSB/status/1612468762883637250
Of course, not everyone is satisfied with the court document released this week.
"John Deere gives farmers the right to fix their own tractors"
no!
it's not a RIGHT if a corporation has "given" it to you, it's a temporary concession by the corporation to prevent you from establishing that right as a legal concept!
— beka_valentine @ kolektiva . social (@defnotbeka) January 9, 2023
Critics say the memorandum doesn’t have any teeth.
According to NPR:
The company said the agreement “reaffirms the longstanding commitment Deere has made to ensure our customers have the diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines.”
But some in the agricultural field worry that the latest agreement doesn’t go far enough and is a veiled attempt to stave off the passage of “right-to-repair” legislation at the federal and state levels.
“There’s no commitment from anyone to enforce it,” Walter Schweitzer, president of the Montana Farmers Union, told NPR.
Schweitzer, a third-generation farmer and rancher, questioned why John Deere would reach a private agreement and pointed to a provision that allows the company to pull out of the memorandum if any right-to-repair legislation is enacted.
“If they truly, honestly wanted to give farmers and ranchers and independent repair shops the right to repair equipment, why are they so afraid of legislation that authorizes that?” he added.
Here’s one farmer’s beef with how John Deere has conducted itself — and how he was forced to respond:
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