Passage of the Consumer Right to Repair Agriculture Equipment Act could make Colorado the first U.S. state to allow farmers to legally fix their own equipment.
The state Senate passed the bill last week, 25-8, after the House passed in February by a 44-17 vote. It now awaits a signature from Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
The legislation requires manufacturers — such as John Deere and CNH — to make software documents, diagnostic tools and repair manuals available to farmers and independent repair technicians.
Equipment owners and private organizations will now be able to run diagnostics on or fix a piece of equipment independently without the assistance of a certified dealership. In the rest of the country that lacks right-to-repair laws, a dealer must run a diagnostic test, which potentially triggers a costly and time-consuming process to fix the issue.
“Equipment manufacturers have always supported farmers’ right to safely maintain, diagnose and repair their own equipment in a timely manner, and this ill-advised and unnecessary legislation does not change that fact,” Kip Eideberg, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers' senior vice president of government and industry relations, told Agri-Pulse.
Don’t miss a beat! It’s easy to sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! For the latest on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. and around the country in agriculture, just click here.
Already in 2023, 20 state legislatures have introduced right-to-repair legislation in various industries, including agriculture and tech.
“The equipment manufacturing industry will continue to provide our customers with the repair tools, spare parts, information guides, training videos, and manuals needed to work on their equipment,” said Eideberg.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
