EPA clarification helps farmers secure the right to repair their own equipment

The EPA issued guidance that the Clean Air Act does not interfere with 
farmers’ right to repair equipment. (Photo by Lance Cheung, USDA)

After years of battling for the right to repair their own equipment, American farmers gleaned a victory from the Environmental Protection Agency.

As of Monday, the agency "notified manufacturers that the Clean Air Act does not prohibit independent repairs to off-road diesel equipment such as farm machinery," reports Cami Koons of the Iowa Capital Dispatch. "A news release from EPA said manufacturers 'can no longer' use the act to 'justify limiting access to repair tools or software.'"

The EPA news release outlined how equipment manufacturers have consistently used the Clean Air Act to force farmers to wait for company-certified techs, pay for repairs they could have done themselves, or work with older, less sophisticated equipment.

Farm machinery manufacturer John Deere "has been central to the right-to-repair issue," Koons explains. The company had used the Clean Air Act to restrict farmers from tampering with emission control systems, insisting that its machinery used "sophisticated technology that could only be [legally] worked on by John Deere technicians."

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said that EPA's clarification is "expected to save farmers thousands in unnecessary repairs . . . .We are reaffirming the lawful right of American farmers and equipment owners to repair their farm equipment.”

During his January visit to Iowa, President Donald Trump said he planned to remove some emission requirements for tractors, Koons reports. In a speech to a crowd of Iowans, Trump said, "We’re going to get the tractors back where you don’t have to be a Ph.D. in order to start your tractor, in order to keep the environment clean."

With used farm equipment in short supply, tractor thefts have become more common

Despite their size, farm tractor sometimes vanish without a trace.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

A century ago, farmers had to worry about horse and cattle rustlers, but now, they need to look out for tractor thieves. "Used tractors are increasingly valuable and often left out in the open with their keys in the cab, ready to be stolen," reports Elissa Welle for Offrange. "In 2023, there were 1,221 reported thefts of special equipment, including tractors, each month."

New farming equipment is expensive, so many farmers seek out used equipment, which is in short supply. Over the past year alone, there has been "a 23% shrinkage of the inventory of used compact and utility tractors," Welle explains. "Mower, riding, or garden tractors were the top style of reported thefts in the category."

Despite their size, tractors are surprisingly easy to steal. Farmers often leave their keys in the tractor for easy startups or the next driver, with some older models even sharing the same manufacturer's key. "By grinding off the VIN, older tractors can simply disappear into the used farm equipment market," Welle reports. "Older models are often not equipped with GPS, leaving law enforcement little to go off."

Last year, farmers in California faced a rash of vanishing tractors, which ended when state law enforcement "broke up a farm equipment theft ring alleged to have stolen equipment totaling $2.25 million," Welle writes. 

Once a tractor is gone, it's hard to recover. "Only half of the value of the stolen equipment — $1.3 million — in California was recovered in the recent bust," Welle reports. 

Despite the increase in farming equipment theft in some areas, farmers don't like to talk about it. Farmer Steve Hess, who had three pieces of equipment stolen, "believes that his tractors didn’t go far. . . But despite his lived experience, talking about a stolen tractor is taboo in the farming community, Hess said, likening it to divorce," Welle explains. "He’s silenced many bustling farmer meetings with the announcement that his tractors got stolen."

Steel and aluminum tariffs may price the Ford F-150, America's No.1-selling vehicle, out of reach for many people

The sticker price for a 2025 Ford F-150 is $38,810.

Ford proclaims its F-150 truck as "The Future of Tough," but newly announced 25% metal tariffs could dent Ford F-150 purchases and profits.

The F-150 is not only the country's number-one selling vehicle, it's also Ford's' main money maker and "one of the industry’s biggest users of aluminum," report Mike Colias and Bob Tita of The Wall Street Journal. "The Trump administration reinstated a blanket 25% tariff on steel imports and boosted the levy on aluminum made outside the U.S."

The sticker price of new vehicles is already a stretch for many Americans and an increase in tariffs could put a new auto purchase out of reach. "The tariffs are the latest Trump administration trade barrier that threatens to inflate already-high car prices," the Journal explains. "The aluminum tax in particular presents a problem for automakers: They are using more of the lightweight metal in cars, but the U.S. has been producing less of it" when measured over the past 30 years. 

Colias and Tita write, "Even though Ford gets most of its aluminum sheet from rolling mills in the U.S., those suppliers rely on smelters in Canada to provide much of the aluminum they roll."

In the past five years, though, domestic investment in aluminum production has increased. Even with that growth, "a Ford spokesman said it would take many years to rewire its supply chains to get more automotive-grade aluminum from the U.S," the Journal reports. "He declined to comment on the potential effect on prices should the tariffs last."

The steel tariff is easier for U.S. automakers to avoid because "companies source most of their steel from U.S. suppliers and have more domestic options," Ford has said it gets 90% of its steel from U.S. sources," Colias and Tita add. 

Even if U.S. tariffs remain in place, new auto purchase prices could remain unchanged for a little while. The Journal reports, "Many automakers have fixed-price metals contracts, and any effect on car prices would likely be delayed for a few months as suppliers and carmakers negotiate over who will absorb the added costs."