Maryland one of 11 states considering 'right to repair' for farming equipment
DENVER (AP) — Maryland and 10 other states are fighting for the right to repair farm equipment — from thin tractors used between grape vines to behemoth combines for harvesting grain — that can cost over half a million dollars.
The list of states includes Colorado, Florida, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont.
Many of the bills that focus on the right to repair are finding bipartisan support, said Nathan Proctor, who leads Public Interest Research Group's national right to repair campaign.
Danny Wood lives on Colorado's northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky. It is here that he scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out.
The tractor's manufacturer doesn't allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950.
"That's where they have us over the barrel, it's more like we are renting it than buying it," said Wood, who spent $300,000 on the used tractor.
Wood's plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — thereby avoiding steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits.
"The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it's lucrative," said Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors. "(Farmers) just want to get their machine going again."
In Colorado, legislation that would address the problem is largely being pushed by Democrats while their Republican colleagues find themselves stuck in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents asking to be able to repair their own machines and the manufacturing businesses that oppose the idea.
The manufacturers argue that changing the current practice with this type of legislation would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators' safety and the environment.
Similar arguments around intellectual property have been leveled against the broader campaign called 'right to repair,' which has picked up steam across the country — crusading for the right to fix everything from iPhones to hospital ventilators during the pandemic.
In 2011, Congress tried passing a right to repair law for car owners and independent servicers. That bill did not pass, but a few years later, automotive industry groups agreed to a memorandum of understanding to give owners and independent mechanics — not just authorized dealerships — access to tools and information to fix problems.
In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission pledged to beef up its right to repair enforcement at the direction of President Joe Biden. And just last year, Titone sponsored and passed Colorado's first right to repair law, empowering people who use wheelchairs with the tools and information to fix them.
Wood's tractor, which flies an American flag reading "Farmers First," isn't his only machine to break down. His grain harvesting combine was dropping into idle, but the servicer took five days to arrive on Wood's farm — a setback that could mean a hail storm decimates a wheat field or the soil temperature moves beyond the Goldilocks zone for planting.
"Our crop is ready to harvest and we can't wait five days, but there was nothing else to do," said Wood. "When it's broke down you just sit there and wait and that's not acceptable. You can be losing $85,000 a day."
The bill's proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls, but argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines and doing so would remain illegal.
"I know growers, if they can change horsepower and they can change emissions they are going to do it," said Russ Ball, sales manager at 21st Century Equipment, a John Deere dealership in Western states.
This January, the Farm Bureau and the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere did sign a memorandum of understanding — a right to repair agreement made in the free market and without government intervention. The agreement stipulates that John Deere will share some parts, diagnostic and repair codes, and manuals to allow farmers to do their own fixes.
In Maryland, other legislation poses a potential impact. Dozens of farmers flocked to Annapolis for Maryland Farm Bureau's Day.
The event allows members of the Maryland Farm Bureau to stay current on legislation affecting farming and rural communities, according to bureau staff.
The bureau has a list of priority bills that it supports:
- HB152: Expands the purpose and scope of the Urban Agriculture Grant Program and the Urban Agriculture Grant Fund.
- HB253/SB262: Looks to increase on-farm composting to 40,000 square feet and allow the incorporation of food scraps to the feedstock used in the compost pile.
- HB389/SB34: Establishes a State Ombudsman for Value-Added Agriculture as a position in the Department of Agriculture.
- HB200/SB181: Appropriates full funding for critical agriculture programs in the key state departments.
- HB592/SB418: Outlines that value-added agricultural activities are a farm or agricultural use of land for assessment purposes.
- HB678/SB670: Adds to the existing agricultural sales and use tax exemption electricity that is used for agricultural purposes, such as raising livestock and poultry, irrigation, or crop production and grain harvest.
- HB378/SB310: Alters the Black Bear Damage Reimbursement Fund to authorize grants from the Fund to be made for projects that reduce conflicts between black bears and humans.
- SB327: Cleans up the landowner liability language to ensure a landowner has proper liability coverage if they allow hunters to hunt on their land; establishes the Wildlife Conservation, Education, and Outreach Program to provide outreach and foster an interest in outdoor recreation and stewardship, hunting, and wildlife conservation; and, establishes a stamp for hunting sika deer.
But a representative of the group says that some bills introduced during this session would make farming more difficult in Maryland.
"A few of the recently proposed bills have presented a concerning issue for Maryland farmers," MDFB director of government and public relations Colby Ferguson said in a statement. "If approved, these pieces of legislation would impose additional costs that might be difficult or even impossible to bear, considering that existing expenditure for running a farm is already high."
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