Right to Repair

Issue Overview

Farmers and ranchers deserve the Right to Repair their own farm equipment or to do business with the mechanic of their choosing. But farm equipment manufacturers are standing in the way.

Family farmers and ranchers have always used farm equipment, seeking out new cutting-edge technologies that help improve the quality and yield of key agricultural commodities. The capacity of these agricultural tools and technology have changed drastically over time, which has helped many family farm operations stay competitive within the international marketplace. 

However, many farmers may access only a limited scope of repair tools and services due to the abuse of intellectual property laws by equipment manufacturers. This can lead to limited service areas or unnecessary repair service fees for equipment that already is expensive to acquire.

There is an effective solution to balance the role of repair access for family farms and ranches: the Right to Repair.

Right to Repair, also called “Fair Repair” in other jurisdictions, represents a collection of policies focused on improving access to repair tools, diagnostic software, or other services that are needed for maintaining farm equipment/machinery. 

These policies can help reduce the burden of repair costs on family farmers and ranchers by expanding the market for repair diagnostic tools, helping curb the rise of corporate price gouging. Furthermore, independent mechanics and farmers can better understand the state of farm equipment with access to diagnostic services, helping provide greater efficiency on the farm operation.

Right to Repair is a commonsense, bipartisan policy that can become a reality if Congress acts to:

• Pass Fair Repair and Right to Repair legislation that would allow farmers and independent mechanics access to diagnostic software, information, and other tools to repair modern equipment.
• Develop independent, universal diagnostic tools for family farmers and ranchers to better assess farm equipment quality and durability.
• Curb “digital trade” provisions that might undermine the Right to Repair from existing and proposed international trade agreements