A recent article in Successful Farming brings to light myths and facts about so-called “right to repair” legislation. Reporter Jessica Watson dispels the false notion that farmers cannot fix their equipment without access to the machine’s software and code. As AEM members know, activists, primarily from special-interests within the fix-it-yourself movement, use this false narrative to promote and push for “right to repair” legislation.
The reality is that these activists use hard-working farmers as pawns to advance their agenda and gain unfettered access to the embedded code in agriculture equipment, which could be dangerous and harm both farmers and general the public. Additionally, “right to repair” legislation could give third-party repair shops the ability to illegally bypass emissions standards set by the Federal Government.
In the article, AEM Director of State Government Relations Stephanie See sets the record straight on flawed information put forth by “right to repair” activists. “This legislation isn’t about giving farmers the right to repair their equipment. As an industry, we support farmers in repairing their own equipment. It’s a mistruth that we don’t,” says See. “The issue here is illegal tampering.”
R2R Solutions, a website maintained by AEM and the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA), provides further information about how equipment manufacturers support farmers by offering a comprehensive toolkit of maintenance, diagnostic, and repair information for tractors and combines.
Equipment manufacturers are proud to support farmers. The agricultural community is close-knit and our industries are closely linked; when farmers succeed, manufacturers succeed. This Successful Farming article explains the problems with the disingenuous push for federal and state “right to repair” bills by activists with little or no concern for farmer. That is why it is no surprise this type of legislation has failed every time it has been introduced, and we applaud the many lawmakers across the country who stand up for the agriculture industry by opposing “right to repair” legislation.
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