Who has the right to repair farming equipment?

Webinar addresses Right to Repair statutes

Advanced technology has brought farmers modern-day tools to assist in increasing yield and decreasing costs. However, as farm machinery becomes more advanced, legal questions arise as to a farmer’s ability to perform routine maintenance and other repairs on their equipment.  

Much of the advanced technology embedded in today’s farm equipment can only be repaired and issues can only be diagnosed through copyrighted software that is not available to customers without going through a licensed technician. Because of this limitation, farmers and independent repair shops are unable to work on much of the equipment which can be an issue when farmers need timely repairs to get back into the fields.  

“The movement to enact Right to Repair statutes has been pursued as a means to ensure that agricultural producers have certain rights and legal protections to repair their equipment,” said Ross Pifer, director of the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law. “If passed, these statutes would not only allow farmers to repair their own equipment, but give them the ability to take their machinery to a repair shop of their choice. On the other side of the issue, concerns have been raised that Right to Repair Statutes will lead to key safety or environmental protection features being disabled—intentionally or unintentionally—on today’s highly technical agricultural equipment.” 

Pifer will discuss Right to Repair statutes in a free webinar hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center on Sept. 16 at noon EDT/11 a.m. CDT. Pifer’s presentation will provide an overview of these statutes, discuss the current status of legislation and legislative proposals in various states, and review the core components or the proposals that have been considered.  

“Right the Repair, along with questions on agricultural data, are just a few of the legal issues arising due to the adaptation of agricultural technology,” said Harrison Pittman, Director of the NALC. “Understanding the issue at hand is the first step in developing a solution, which is why we’ve invited Ross to speak on this topic.”  

Those interested can register free of charge at https://bit.ly/3bDiZL7. 

For more information on the National Agricultural Law Center, visit https://nationalaglawcenter.org/  or follow @Nataglaw on Twitter.