Colorado becomes first state to pass 'right to repair' law for farmers; several other states are considering similar bills

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In July 2021, President Biden issued an executive order supporting farmers' rights to repair their tractors. Twenty-one months later, one state has passed right-to-repair legislation for farmers.

"Colorado farmers will be able to legally fix their own equipment next year, with manufacturers, including Deere & Co. and CNH Industrial, obliged to provide them with manuals for diagnostic software and other aids, under a measure passed by legislators in the first U.S. state to approve such a law," reports Bianca Flowers of Reuters. "The Consumer Right to Repair Agriculture Equipment Act garnered bipartisan support as farmers grew increasingly frustrated with costly repairs and inflated input prices denting their profits."

The new law means that farmers or independent technicians can use manufacture's tools to repair equipment such as combines and tractors without waiting for an "authorized dealer representative," Flowers reports. A Deere spokesperson said the company supports "right to repair" but thinks the law will have unintended consequences. "Equipment makers worry the legislation may allow farmers to override certain safety systems or emissions controls, said Eric Wareham, a North American Equipment Dealers Association vice president."

The bill passed after "lawmakers amended the bill to include language that farmers and repair shops will not be authorized 'to make modifications' to functions related to security or emissions," Flowers notes. "Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, predicted other states will follow suit." She told Flowers, "If there are no lawsuits or collapse of the industry, it demonstrates that the law is not going to cause chaos like many opponents think it will." Titone sponsored and passed Colorado's first right to repair law, which gave wheelchair owners the right to access tools and technology to fix their own chairs.

Deere and CNH tried to head off such laws applying to farmers with a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation that allows farmers to fix their equipment or go to a third party, notes Leland Glenna, writing in The Conversation, a platform for journalism by academics: "At its most basic level, right-to-repair legislation seeks to protect the end users of a product from anti-competitive activities by large companies. New York passed the first broad right-to-repair law in 2022, and nearly two dozen states have active legislation – about half of them targeting farm equipment."