Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Welcomes Expanded Right to Repair Access for Farmers 

Denver, CO- Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) welcomes this week’s announcement that John Deere has agreed to expand farmers’ right to repair their own equipment. The agreement, which was reached with the Federal Trade Commission and five states, represents meaningful progress toward restoring producers’ ability to access diagnostic software, repair tools, and information needed to repair their own equipment. 

For family farmers and ranchers, the ability to repair equipment is essential to keeping operations running during the narrow windows of planting, haying, and harvest. Without the ability to repair their own machinery or access timely and affordable repairs through a third-party repair providers, producers are left waiting days for an authorized technician, which results in lost time, reduced yields, and thousands of dollars in additional costs. 

This announcement did not happen in a vacuum but is the result of years of advocacy by farmers, independent repair providers, state legislatures, agricultural organizations, and federal regulators who pushed manufacturers to provide fair access to repair tools and software. Sustained pressure helped elevate Right to Repair from a producer concern to a national policy issue, and the work is not done. 

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has long supported Right to Repair policies that ensure producers have timely, affordable access to the parts, software, diagnostic tools, and technical information necessary to repair their equipment.  

“ We are glad to see years of advocacy finally resulting in action. Producers have consistently shared that limited access to repair tools has made producing food more difficult and more expensive, and this is an important step forward,” said RMFU President Chad Franke. 

While implementation will ultimately determine its success, expanding access to repair tools helps restore competition, reduce costly delays, and give producers greater control over their operations 

RMFU will continue advocating for policies at the state and federal level that protect producer’s choice, strengthen competition, and ensure family farmers and ranchers have the freedom to repair the equipment they depend on. Now that John Deere will be required to provide access to the same tools and information as dealership mechanics, we will continue to work to pass federal legislation to ensure that John Deere and all manufacturers will be held to the same standard in perpetuity.