A ground-breaking right-to-repair agreement went into effect Jan. 8.
The three parties signing on to the memorandum of understanding include the American Farm Bureau Federation, John Deere and the North American Equipment Dealers Association.
The agreement covers independent shops and farmers.
The MOU formalizes the availability and access to parts, tools, software and documentation for the purpose of repair and maintenance. It builds on the previous voluntary industry commitment made by manufacturers and dealers.
The MOU states, the Manufacturer shall ensure that any farmer, including any staff or independent technician assisting a farmer at a farmer’s request, and any independent repair facility that provides assistance to farmers, has electronic access on fair and reasonable terms to manufacturer’s tools, specialty tools, software and documentation, including:
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- John Deere customer service adviser
- Manuals (operator, parts, service)
- Product service demonstrations, training, seminars or clinics
- On-board diagnostics via diagnostics port or wireless interface
- Other publications with information on service, parts, operation and safety
Manufacturer will ensure that farmers and independent repair facilities will be able to access and obtain, per subscription or sale, manufacturer’s tools, specialty tools, software, and documentation.
The MOU supports the manufacturer’s suggested retail price and distribution model. It does not promote a departure from the current supply chain model.
It is a private sector right-to-repair agreement, not a legislative or regulatory mandate.
The AFBF said it will not pursue legislated options, and encourages state farm bureaus to not support right-to-repair legislation.
John Deere was the only manufacturer to sign the agreement.
The MOU states the increased access under right-to-repair will not be allowed for the purpose of overriding safety features or emissions criteria.
Kevin O’Reilly is the right-to-repair campaign director at the Public Interest Research Group, and he’s heard representatives from Deere say for many years that there isn’t a problem when it comes to the right to repair, because farmers can already fix their equipment.
“This is a very clear acknowledgement from one of the biggest in the game, saying that yes there is a problem here and something needs to be done about it,” O’Reilly said.
He said a previous statement of principles between the Far West Equipment Dealers Association and the California Farm Bureau had dealers and manufacturers agree they would provide some diagnostic materials to enable farmers to independently repair their tractors.
“At the time this took the wind out of the sails of a bill that was making its way through the California legislature,” O’Reilly said.
“An investigation that I did along with a couple of reporters at Vice News found that they failed to meet their own deadline and that diagnostic tools were not readily available.”
He said time will tell if there are loopholes purposely built into the MOU that allows Deere to reject requests for repair materials based on loosely defined requirements in the MOU.
“I wonder whether full access is going to be granted. But you know at the same time some of the language of the MOU states that they (Deere) will provide farmers with all the specialty tools software that they are providing to their dealers. So, all these things are a step forward if they actually happen,” O’Reilly said.
