Repair restrictions come home to roost: Report shows farmers want to fix their own tractors

Manufacturers keep fed-up farmers from repairing their own equipment, highlighting need for new Senate bill

TexPIRG

AUSTIN—Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) introduced the Agricultural Right to Repair Act in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, providing the latest opportunity for farmers to win their Right to Repair. 

The bill, which has been endorsed by Texas based organizations like the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance and Sustainable Food Center, would require manufacturers to give access to the parts, tools and informationnecessary to fix farm equipment. It would also remove copyright restrictions against bypassing technological locks to conduct repairs, or selling third party tools which bypass locks to repair equipment.

Farmers rely on their tractors and other farm equipment to get the job done, from preparing to plant through the harvest. When farmers’ equipment breaks down, they need it fixed, yesterday. But manufacturers refuse to provide farmers and independent mechanics with all the materials—particularly software tools—needed to fix modern tractors, making farmers reliant on the dealer for too many repairs. That monopolistic practice can leave farmers stuck waiting for a dealer technician and paying whatever the dealer wants to charge. 

“Timing is incredibly important. When you have a tractor go down you need to be able to fix it immediately. Otherwise you risk not being able to plant in time, you risk not being able to harvest in time, and you risk losing crops,” said Jim Halff, a peanut farmer from Pearsall, Texas. “The idea that you pick up the phone and call a mechanic is nice in theory, but it doesn’t work in practice. Currently there aren’t enough mechanics to go around, and farmers are independent and have to be able to keep their machines running all the time.“

According to a new report from the TexPIRG Education Fund and National Farmers Union, farmers want more repair choices than equipment manufacturers offer. Of the 73 farmers from the 15 states we surveyed, 92% believe that they could save money if they had full access to fix their own equipment or could hire an independent mechanic to do it for them. 77% of respondents have opted for older equipment that doesn’t require dealer intervention to fix. And 95% of farmers surveyed support Right to Repair reforms which would require manufacturers to provide access to all of the repair materials needed to fix modern farm equipment.

“It’s simple: Farmers should be able to fix their own tractors. But manufacturer-imposed repair restrictions allow manufacturers to determine who does the repair, when and for how much,” said Adam Altmejd, the Director of TexPIRG’s Right to Repair Campaign. “Farmers are asking for help, and we should listen. We need to open up repair choices for farmers and let them get back to producing the food that goes on our tables.” 

Repair restrictions are not only expensive—they’re frustrating for farmers. “I’ve been farming all my life. I’ve been around tractors all my life. So I know my way around these machines,” said Missouri farmer Jared Wilson. “The idea that the manufacturer tells me that I cannot fix my own tractor, the tractor I paid good money for, is infuriating.”

Independent fixers can repair older-model equipment, which does not require software tools. 

But opting for older equipment comes with a tradeoff. “I’m giving up 25 years of technology—I’m going backwards on equipment just so I can afford to repair it,” said Scott Potmesil, a Nebraska farmer who bought a 1995 John Deere tractor. “It’d be nice to upgrade to new stuff that my mechanic could work on. But I’m going backwards.”

Farm equipment manufacturers insist that they have heard farmers’ concerns and are addressing the problem. But many farmers, including Wilson, aren’t buying it. 

“My experience here in the real world of working on this stuff is that that’s absolutely not true,” he said. “I guess if you included every single thing that could break on a machine, that might be true, but there’s no way in hell that that’s true for common things that break.” 

Change could come soon for farmers. Sen. Tester’s bill is just one of several potential game-changers on the horizon. Dozens of state legislatures considered Right to Repair legislation in 2021, and President Joe Biden signed an executive order in July that encouraged the Federal Trade Commission to crack down repair restrictions like those farmers face. 

“It’s great to see that farmers’ concerns are getting through to lawmakers,” said Altmejd. “Now it’s time to finish the job and get the tools farmers need in their hands.”