A farm advocacy group is urging the Federal Trade Commission to take action on Right to Repair.
Farm Action shares why they want a rule-making process initiated.
“We’re a farmer-led organization. Far too often, we’ve seen John Deere and the other major agricultural equipment manufacturers consolidate their dealerships, and today, many farmers have to travel hours to get to the dealership. Our equipment breaks down in the field sometimes just because of an error on a sensor, and we don’t have the ability, or that farmer doesn’t have the ability to repair that equipment without contacting that dealer miles and miles away. Oftentimes, they have a backlog, and our equipment is down for days and weeks. Sometimes, we have to haul it in simply to have them hook it up to a computer and find that a sensor malfunctioned,” said Joe Maxwell.
The co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer with Farm Action says this comes as farmers are already under a lot of stress with low margins and weather.
Maxwell shares how costly Right to Repair is for American farmers.
“It’s estimated that this issue of agricultural equipment manufacturers controlling the repair of that equipment and preventing the right to repair it by the farmer or someone of their choice costs as much as $4.2 billion per year. It’s real money in the pockets of America’s family farmers and ranchers.”
Farm Action says the FTC has the authority and responsibility to regulate the Right to Repair issue under existing antitrust law.
