Today Farm Action Fund’s Senior Policy Advisor on Right to Repair, Willie Cade, joined farmers and lawmakers for Tennessee’s Ag Day on the Hill to urge state legislators to restore farmers’ right to repair their own agricultural equipment.
Cade testified and staffed a booth at the Tennessee state capitol urging legislators to enshrine the right to repair agricultural equipment by enacting Senate Bill 2035/House Bill 2029. The bills, introduced by Senator Sara Kyle and Representative Justin Jones, are based on Colorado’s law which made history in 2023 as the nation’s first agricultural right to repair law. Legislators from more than a dozen states have also introduced similar bills as the right to repair movement gains traction across the country.
In recent decades, agricultural equipment manufacturers like John Deere have imposed anticompetitive restrictions on who can repair the products they sell. These restrictions jeopardize thousands of dollars in potential yields for farmers and run independent repair shops out of business.
“Many thanks to Senator Kyle and Representative Jones for introducing these critical bills and fighting on behalf of Tennessee’s farmers,” said Farm Action Fund’s Willie Cade. “Our farmers have been able to fix their own farm equipment for more than a century, and they thrive on this spirit of self-sufficiency,” Cade said. “Repair restrictions cost farmers precious money and time. Since equipment dealers simply don’t have the workforce needed to serve farmers during harvest season, our farmers must be able to fix their equipment on their own.”
Repair restrictions on agricultural equipment are particularly harmful to our nation’s beginning farmers, added Jess Wilson, Board President of the Southeast Tennessee Young Farmers. “Many farmers within our network depend on older equipment because it is more affordable and it can be repaired either by the farmer or by a local mechanic,” said Wilson. “Because of high prices and proprietary technology that can only be repaired by a dealer, new agricultural technologies are often out of reach for young and beginning farmers.”
In addition to today’s advocacy, Farm Action Fund’s research partner organization, Farm Action, recently submitted a public comment requesting that the Federal Trade Commission initiate a rulemaking process on consumers’ right to repair, including agricultural equipment.
Media Contact: Jessica Cusworth, jcusworth@farmaction.us, 202-450-0887
