Agricultural Equipment and the Right to Repair

Right to Repair

One of the major factors that will affect the agricultural equipment market in the coming years is the “Right to repair”. Right to repair affects a wide range of products; it refers to the restrictions (or removal of these restrictions) placed on consumers by manufacturers to repair certain components of their equipment. These components require manufacturer specific software, tools, or technicians. In recent weeks the right to repair has been a major topic of controversy in agricultural circles. The restrictions on farming and agricultural equipment can seem unfair and unnecessary to consumers, especially farmers, but the issue is much more complex than it may appear on the surface.

Affect on Consumers and Manufacturers

Tractors and other farming equipment have become much more technically advanced in recent years to increase yields and maximize efficiency. However, the more computer based sensors and adjustable settings a piece of equipment has, the more components there are that can malfunction and need repair. Manufacturing companies have developed policies that prevent consumers from repairing or modifying some of these high tech components on their own, and require that equipment be brought in to only their repair facilities or require consumers to use company branded tools and software. Two of the major effects on farmers and other consumers are…

1. Cost

   Manufacturer parts and services often cost more than aftermarket parts and local services. The consumer also considers the cost of travel and time lost if they must seek out parts or services that aren’t easily accessible, which is common is rural areas.

2. Accessibility

   Manufacturer parts and services are not always readily accessible, because of either location or quantity. In addition, one manufacturer service location simply cannot serve the same volume of customers as multiple local service providers.

While it is easy to say that restrictions placed on consumers are just a money grab by manufacturers, there are other important reasons behind these policies. The following are just two of the factors behind creating these policies…

1. Safety

   Some of the components of modern agricultural equipment can be dangerous to repair if the consumer is not properly trained or does not have the proper tools. Especially when dealing with electrical components, safety must be a top priority for both manufacturers and consumers.

2. Product Integrity

   Manufacturers do not want to rely on aftermarket replacement parts or nonregulation practices to uphold the integrity of their equipment. Company reputation is a vital part of demand and sales, and manufacturers want to protect that in any ways they can!

Legislation

There are now 20 states that have passed legislation protecting the right to repair including Montana, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, and California. California just passed their legislation in late October, 2022, and Florida may be the next state the next state to join them. However, federal legislation has not been as successful.

Florida - A new bill that presents a compromise between manufacturers and consumers, “SB 422: Fair Repair of Agricultural Equipment”, by Florida’s State Senator Jennifer Bradley, was filed on January 26, 2023. If passed, the bill will require that certain instructions, software, and repair tools to be available to the public. This legislation, like many other states, allows consumers or local repairmen to repair certain elements of their equipment that can go out in an emergency or in places far from a manufacturer establishment.

Federal – On February 1, 2022, Senator Jon Tester of Montana presented the “Agricultural Right to Repair Act” to the Senate.

“Tester’s legislation tackles consolidation in the repair market specifically by requiring equipment manufacturers to:

• Make available any documentation, part, software, or tool required to diagnose, maintain, or repair their equipment.
• Provide means to disable and re-enable an electronic security lock or other security-related function to effect diagnostics, repair, or maintenance.
• Permit third party software to provide interoperability with other parts/tools, and to protect both the farmer’s data and equipment from hackers.
• Ensure that when a manufacturer no longer produces documentation, parts, software, or tools for its equipment that the relevant copyrights and patents are placed in the public domain.
• Ensure parts are replaceable using commonly available tools without causing damage to the equipment, or provide specialized tools to owners or independent providers on fair and reasonable terms.
• Return data ownership to farmers. Manufacturers currently collect and sell all the data generated by farmers, and this data is the farmers’ “secret sauce” for how they conduct their business.”

However, this act failed to be passed by December 31, 2022, rendering it void. While individual states push to establish their own legislation, the US Senate is not making the same progress. Right to repair will continue to be a hot button issue for manufacturers and the farming industry as legislation continues to develop.

If you are interested in in learning more about the various factors affecting agriculture worldwide, check out Freedonia Group’s report “Global Agricultural Equipment”.