by Russell Bartlett at welovetrump.com
You’ve probably heard stories about tech companies like Apple and Tesla preventing ordinary consumers from repairing their own products. The situation has led to increased interest in the fledgling “right-to-repair” movements.
The issue has also reared its ugly head in the farming community with John Deere informing hard-working Americans that they must bring their tractors to an approved technician to solve a variety of problems with highly computerized new equipment.
Fortunately, the farmers fought back and recently scored a big victory over the corporation.
Here’s what The Western Journal reported:
A memorandum of understanding between the venerable agricultural implement maker and the American Farm Bureau Federation allows farmers access to John Deere software, specialty tools and repair training.
The company previously claimed a proprietary interest in these items, allowing only John Deere technicians to service newer equipment and in effect creating a monopoly.
The issue has been festering for several years, and the resolution Sunday represents a substantial victory for farmers, increasingly pressed from all sides.
There have been efforts toward right-to-repair legislation in the United States and Canada, and nine Illinois farmers filed a class action lawsuit against John Deere, the publication Farm Equipment reported Monday.
“Every time we take a truck or tractor in, it’s $175-200 an hour to get something serviced,” Jim Leverich, who has a thousand Wisconsin acres growing soybeans and corn, said prior to the MOU.
“Many of us could do that ourselves, or we could hire a technician on our own farms to do it, but we can’t get the software,” Leverich said.