MILLS COUNTY, Iowa (KMTV) — Over the course of four generations of farming on his land, Bret Hays' family has seen plenty of technical advancements in agriculture over the years.
But with those advantages has come complications. That technical equipment, like sensors, has been locked down. Hays said, for example, an error code might pop up on a computer but require a John Deere dealer to decode it.
That won't be the case after John Deere came to an agreement with the American Farm Bureau Federation, he said. The deal gives farmers something they've been requesting for years: the "right to repair" their own equipment.
If the code shows a bad cylinder, for example, "you'd be able to replace that cylinder," Hays said. "Technically, you'll still have to have them come program it. But that's cutting down time that the technician would have to be there to replace that ... So it's saving time, which is dollars."
That savings could spread to consumers in the form of food and biofuels.
The memorandum of understanding was signed Sunday.
Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue, a fourth-generation farmer from Central City, Nebraska, spoke with 3 News Now on Tuesday from a conference in Puerto Rico, where the agreement was signed.
"No longer is repairing our equipment just taking a wrench or something and changing out a part," McHargue said. "We were falling behind in our ability to actually repair our (own) equipment or have any third party repair our equipment ... John Deere has acknowledged that for their customers, it's important that they have a choice of whether they repair themselves, whether they have a third party repaired or whether they take it to a dealership."
This agreement just applies to John Deere, the biggest player in the market. But McHargue said others might come along. He's been directly involved in the talks, including making a motion to accept this deal.
"We have talked to some of the other major manufacturers," he said. "It's just that John Deere was the first that has come the furthest in the conversation. So we fully anticipate having some other major equipment manufacturers coming along after we have signed this with John Deere ... They're going to kind of set the standard for this. And we appreciate them doing that."
From 2021: Nebraska bill would give farmers right to repair own equipment
Legislation proposed in Nebraska and federally would have required equipment companies to do this and, in some cases, more.
From 2022: Congress deliberates 'right to repair' for farmers; Flood has tech security concerns
Some farmers are skeptical of the deal, according to media reports. They fear it doesn't go far enough and that it's an attempt to prevent the legislation from passing.
The deal says Farm Bureau organizations won't promote any "right to repair" legislation "that imposes obligations beyond the commitments in this (agreement)."
McHargue said the American Farm Bureau prefers a private agreement over legislation.
"We have had policy all along ... that we would rather have a private agreement made, not legislative," he said. "If we couldn't strike a private agreement, we would pursue legislation ... We're not going to pursue legislation anymore."
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