Upcoming webinar to address legal issues in farmers’ right to repair equipment

By Drew Viguet
National Agricultural Law Center
U of A System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Can farmers legally repair their own equipment?

The question is more complex than it appears. With continued technological advancements, companies that manufacture farming equipment may use sophisticated and proprietary technology and software which only the manufacturer has the ability and permission to repair.

The National Ag Law Center's Sept. 18 webinar will feature a discussion on the right to repair as it applies to agriculture. The presentation will be led by Ross Pifer, director of the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law. (U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture photo by Kevin Lawson)

Such was the case with John Deere, which eventually entered into a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation in January 2023 allowing farmers access to tools and diagnostic equipment for repairs. The MOU is one example of the outcome of conversations surrounding the “right to repair.”

“This has been a topic of discussion in the agricultural community and beyond for some time now,” said Ross Pifer, director of the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law. “The right-to-repair movement advocates for policies that enable farmers to fix and modify their machinery without facing legal or technical barriers. In agriculture, there is widespread interest in right to repair, though there are differences of opinion on how to define and implement it.”

Last year, Minnesota became the sixth state to enact a right-to-repair law with its Digital Fair Repair Act. Of the six states that have enacted such laws — Minnesota, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and New York — Colorado is the only state to have enacted a law that specifically gives farmers the right to repair their own equipment.

More information on the American Farm Bureau Federation MOU and the right to repair is available online from the National Agricultural Law Center, or NALC.

“Each statute is similar in its general purpose, but they differ in their approach and the scope of coverage,” Pifer said.

Pifer will discuss the status of the right-to-repair movement as it applies to agriculture during a Sept. 18 NALC webinar, “Right to Repair and Agriculture.” The webinar is free to attend, but registration is required. Interested participants can register and find more details on the National Agricultural Law Center’s website. The presentation will begin at 11 a.m. Central/Noon Eastern.

“The right to repair is a critical issue that affects every farmer's ability to manage and maintain their equipment,” according to NALC Director Harrison Pittman. “We're excited to have Ross guide us through the legal landscape and practical challenges surrounding this important topic. This webinar is a must for anyone invested in the future of agriculture.”

For information about the National Agricultural Law Center, visit nationalaglawcenter.org or follow @Nataglaw on X. The National Agricultural Law Center is also on Facebook and LinkedIn.

For updates on agricultural law and policy developments, subscribe free of charge to The Feed, the NALC’s twice-monthly newsletter highlighting recent legal developments facing agriculture.

Colorado passes first right-to-repair law; others could follow

By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.  — Colorado’s first-in-the-nation law allowing farmers to repair their own equipment could be “the first chink in the armor” that has allowed only manufacturers to complete some repairs, said Rusty Rumley, senior staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center.

Rusty Rumley comments on Colorado's right-to-repair law.

Farmers have long been accustomed to repairing their equipment or turning to a nearby independent repair shop to make speedy fixes during planting, growing, and harvest. In the last decade or so, farmers have found those efforts thwarted not only by increasingly complex technology and lack of manuals and tools, but also protection of intellectual property that goes along with software-driven machinery.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill on April 25, hailing it as “a common-sense bipartisan bill to help people avoid unnecessary delays from equipment repairs.”

Starting Jan. 1, 2024, the Colorado law will require manufacturers of agricultural equipment to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic, maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information resources, to independent repair providers and owners of the manufacturer's agricultural equipment to allow them to service or repair the owner's agricultural equipment.

“Farmers and ranchers can lose precious weeks and months when equipment repairs are stalled due to long turnaround times by manufacturers and dealers,” Polis said.

For the manufacturers, there are worries over trade secrets.

“How much of the computer code are they going to say they can’t release because competitors could take it and use it themselves,” Rumley said. “They might say that this should be protected by trade secrets, so there may be some litigation on aspects such as that. For a lot of these companies, the repair side of the industry is, or has been, a really important economic driver. It’s not just selling the new tractor or combine, it’s the repair work.”

Part of a bigger story

Rumley said agriculture equipment is only one aspect of a larger story. Similar issues exist with motorized wheelchairs, phones, tablets, and other electronic equipment. The Colorado law includes motorized wheelchairs, but not consumer electronics items.

“There are some 50 pieces of right-to-repair legislation floating out there amongst the states,” he said. “There’s a lot of push out there, and this is the first one to get past, at least on the ag side.”

One characteristic of the Colorado law is “it specifically says, if Congress ever passes a national right-to-repair act, the Colorado one goes away and they'll live with whatever the federal one is,” Rumley said. “I don’t think we’re close to a federal one yet.”

Back in January, ag equipment maker John Deere signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation to ensure farmers and ranchers retained the right to repair their own equipment.

Find additional information about agricultural law at the National Agricultural Law Center.

The center is part of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.