News

More understanding needed on “right to repair”

A policy director for the Iowa/Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association says farmers need to know all the facts before defending their “right to repair.”

Will Rogers says five states have introduced legislation protecting the farmer’s right to repair their equipment or have it repaired by a third party.

He tells Brownfield in most situations, farmers can still legally do that.

“But what specifically they cannot do is go into that piece of equipment and change the operating system and modify the code that runs that equipment.”

Speaking to Brownfield during the Farm Progress Show, Rogers says manufacturers, dealers and even farmers could be exposed to liability issues if the software were to be tampered with.

“We have a situation where if the exhaust system (of) the tier four engine has been modified, that can expose the farmer, dealer and manufacturer to liability from the EPA in terms of fines of up to $250,000 dollars and potentially jail time as well.”

Proponents of the right to repair legislation say manufacturers are limiting farmer’s ability to fix equipment themselves, and that a decline in rural dealerships has led to longer wait times for repairs.