Owners of John Deere Equipment Can Now Fix Their Own Machines

Thursday, January 12th, 2023 -- 8:01 AM

(By Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) John Deere says it will allow farmers to access what they need in order to repair their own tractors and equipment.

But, according to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, some in Wisconsin are skeptical the announcement will mean any change to the current way producers fix their tools. The American Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere signed a memorandum of understanding at the AFBF's national convention over the weekend.

The agreement states that John Deere will make manuals, diagnostic tools and other services available to farmers who want to repair their own equipment or hire an independent repair service. Calls for farmers to have the "right to repair" have been growing louder in recent years.

Last year, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana introduced the Agricultural Right to Repair Act, which would require equipment manufacturers to make available documents, parts, software and tools needed for repairs.

The National Farmers Union and several state chapters including the Wisconsin Farmers Union also filed an antitrust complaint against John Deere last year, claiming the company's repair restrictions monopolized the market. Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, said she thinks the new agreement between John Deere and AFBF is a sign the legal pressure is working.

"This is an effort really on behalf of the leadership of American Farm Bureau and John Deere to, in a sense, cut their own agreement and be able to make some progress hopefully," she said. "But at the same time, I mean, it's left to see whether or not John Deere will comply with what was signed in their memorandum agreement, and actually really, truly open up the opportunity for independent shops and farmers to get the software and things that they need."

Keown-Bomar said farmers are frustrated that they haven't had access to tools, parts and information that are needed to fix the equipment they've purchased. But she said another concern from her organization is that John Deere retains a software lock on their machines. She points to reporting by CNN last May that tractors stolen by Russian troops from a dealership in Ukraine were remotely disabled.

"They possibly went through software lock mechanisms and stopped them dead in their tracks," she said."We might applaud that move, some of us, in terms of what happened in Ukraine. But for a farmer that is actually needing to get their field plowed or their harvest in...that can really hit their bottom line."

She said it's a level of control that most farmers aren't comfortable with, especially after purchasing ownership of the equipment.

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