‘Right to repair’ bill passes committee vote, set for House review
Farmers don’t have the luxury to wait for their equipment to be fixed, so a bill approved by the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee will give them leeway to do their own repairs, or at least take the equipment to an independent repair shop.
House Bill 1011 won a 9-4 party-line vote and is now awaiting review from the full House. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada and Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland.
Under the bill, equipment manufacturers would be required to provide parts, software, firmware, tools or documentation to either the owner of agricultural equipment or to independent repair shops, and at a fair and reasonable price, defined as the suggested retail price.
The issue of “right to repair” raises plenty of issues: manufacturers worry about illegal tampering, repairs that can void a warranty or that would grant access to proprietary source codes. Manufacturers, however, have acknowledged that farmers can fix 95% of the problems on even the most modern equipment.
Not surprisingly, manufacturers such as John Deere and CNH Industrial (which owns Case IH) are opposed to the measure, as is the Colorado Livestock Association.
On the other side, almost every agricultural organization in Colorado supports it: wheat, wool, and fruit and vegetable growers; the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
Not taking a position: Colorado Farm Bureau, because the American Farm Bureau last month signed an agreement with John Deere granting right to repair for Deere ag equipment.
“It’s the farmers and their team who deliver our food and are our constituents,” not the dealers, Titone told the ag committee.
She addressed the John Deere agreement, calling it a “major endorsement” of the right to repair.
Titone was one of the sponsors of a right-to-repair bill in 2022, dealing with wheelchairs.
Weinberg, a first-year lawmaker, told the committee he talked to farmers in Larimer and Weld counties, and that farmers told him they feel “ripped off.” They buy half-million-dollar tractors, and when a sensor or part can’t get replaced, they’re stuck, he said.
“When you purchase something, you own it. At what point in time are we being stripped of our right to own something?” he asked.
Farmers told him they’re buying third-party illegal software from Russia or China, and fix the equipment themselves. They’re fixing their own problems, but voiding their own warranties, he said: “This gives them the avenue to not break the law.”
This is not going to be a hit to John Deere, Weinberg told the committee.
The agreement between John Deere and American Farm Bureau is not an absolute, nor is it legally binding, claimed one witness.
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