The average Tesla-driving, iPhone-using suburbanite isn’t spending a lot of time worrying about tractor software payloads. They should, though.
Fixing a broken-down farm tractor used to take just a wrench set and some elbow grease. Now repairs might require a mobile-device interface, online diagnostic tools and secure software updates, too. And that stuff isn’t just sitting around in the barn. It’s mostly held at a shrinking number of manufacturer-authorized dealerships. As a result, simple breakdowns that in the past might have been repaired in hours can now take days or weeks. During busy times, such as spring planting, long delays can harm a farm’s crops and profitability.
This spring, at least 11 states are trying to fix this problem. At least one — Colorado — will likely succeed. The solution, known as a right-to-repair law, guarantees that farmers and independent repair shops will have access to the same tools, software and manuals as “authorized” service centers.
The impact won’t be confined to farm equipment sheds. Devices ranging from smartphones to Teslas are often subject to similar repair restrictions, raising costs, inconvenience and waste well beyond farm country. Guaranteeing a farmer’s right to repair is an important step toward guaranteeing everyone’s right to a fix.
For centuries, the American self-image was infused with self-sufficiency, and with good reason. When a prairie homesteader found a hole in his socks, he sewed it up. When the roof leaked, he mended it. There was no alternative. That necessary, enterprising approach extended to farm equipment, which by World War II was becoming highly mechanized. Farmers who bought a tractor took it for granted that they could obtain the parts, tools and manuals needed to fix it themselves. And if they couldn’t, there was always a self-taught mechanic in town who could.
Today’s tractors are packed with technology, including GPS guidance systems, automation, emissions controls and luxury driver cabins outfitted with high-definition screens.
Farmers and independent repair professionals have the skills to switch out much of this technology on their own. But manufacturers often restrict the use of diagnostic equipment to authorized technicians, thereby effectively locking farmers out of the equipment they purchased.
No data exist on just how much farmers — and American consumers — lose because of repair restrictions and scarce service options, but the complaints and anecdotes date back years and have inspired a wave of farm activism.
Over the years, both Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. have been accused of restricting repair in much the same way as farm-implement manufacturers. Both companies have resisted efforts to pass right-to-repair laws, citing a range of reasons, from intellectual property concerns to the absurd suggestion that right to repair could inspire a wave of criminal hacking.
Fortunately, help is on the way. Last summer, Colorado passed legislation guaranteeing the right to repair powered wheelchairs. Before it went into effect, powered-wheelchair users sometimes had to wait weeks for repairs; now, the process is faster. Last year Apple introduced a self-repair program, and in January John Deere and the American Farm Bureau signed an agreement designed to expand farmers’ access to repair tools and documentation.
Earlier this month, Colorado’s lawmakers passed right-to-repair legislation that codifies much of what’s in the agreement with Deere. Gov. Jared Polis signed the wheelchair right-to-repair bill, and there is optimism that he’ll sign this one, too. If he does, it will open up more repair options for Coloradans and farmers across the country.
It would be a victory that should resonate well beyond rural America. Anyone who owns something that requires expensive maintenance, from a car to a dishwasher, benefits when government commits itself to opening up the repair market. In that sense, a farmer’s right to repair is everyone’s right.
Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. ©2023 Bloomberg. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
