COLUMBUS, Ohio — The American Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere agreed to ensure farmers the right to repair their own John Deere equipment.

What You Need To Know

  • The memorandum of understanding was signed in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual convention

  • The agreement was made effective Jan. 8

  • John Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation will meet at least twice a year to evaluate the progress of the agreement

“AFBF is pleased to announce this agreement with John Deere. It addresses a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to accessing tools, information, and resources while protecting John Deere’s intellectual property rights and ensuring equipment safety,” said AFBF President Zippy Duval in a release.

"The idea here is that farmers have traditionally been able to work on their own farm equipment. My dad and little brother, we grew up with John Deere equipment and both of them are very skilled working on some of those legacy pieces or really any equipment around the farm," Spectrum News 1 agriculture expert Andy Vance said.

"But as farm equipment, like everything in society, have gotten more technological, they've gotten more smart devices, if you will, that certainly is extended to farm equipment and a number of the diagnostic tools and pieces of software that farmers might need to repair or modify their equipment anyway simply hasn't been available. It's been proprietary to the manufacturer, meaning the farmers have had to wait for a company employee technician to come out of the field to do the diagnostic work, to reset the software, whatever the problem might be."

Until now, that forced reliance caused frustration for many farmers.

"This is my equipment. I've paid for it. It's very expensive. I should have the right to repair it myself or to take it to an independent mechanic or somebody not affiliated with the manufacturer," Vance said, referring to the many farmers who own John Deere equipment.

Ty Higgins of the Ohio Farm Bureau was at the convention where the signing of the agreement took place.

"We hear from our members and we act upon their concerns. And right to repair certainly has been a concern for some time," Higgins said. "And so when they heard this announcement and saw this agreement being signed, there, on stage with John Deere. I think it's a big step in the right direction for our farmers to be able to make those repairs themselves and really have one extra tool in the toolbox."

Deere will provide assistance with user manuals, product service demonstrations, training, seminars or clinics, onboard diagnostics, and other publications with information on service, parts, operation, and safety.

According to AFBF, the agreement may serve as a model for other manufacturers.