John Deere fails to uphold right to repair agreement
In 2018, John Deere entered a voluntary agreement to provide manuals, training, and diagnostic software for tractors available to purchase by January 1, 2021. However, the company does not appear to have fulfilled this commitment, nor does it seem to have plans to do so in the near future.[1][2]
Repair agreement[edit | edit source]
The agreement was made between the Equipment Dealers Association (EDA) and John Deere, amidst ongoing controversy over the concessions made by the EDA at that time. Additionally, the California Farm Bureau reached an agreement with the EDA to formalize these concessions within the agreement.[3]
These concessions are outlined by the EDA in the "Proposed Amendments to Right to Repair/Fair Repair Legislation".[4] According to the EDA, "If anything, it is more restrictive, because it enshrines what the Farm Bureau of California now believes farmers are not supposed to do with their tractors, which includes modifying the embedded software."[3]
If manufacturers such as John Deere provided farmers with access to software keys, farmers would be able to break free from their reliance on dealers and perform critical repairs themselves.[5] However, industry groups argue that doing so would also allow farmers to bypass emissions and safety controls.[5]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Joel Hruska (23 Feb 2021). "John Deere Fails to Uphold Right to Repair Agreement Signed in 2018" (article). Extreme Tech.
- ↑ Louis Rossmann (25 Feb 2021). "John Deere screws over farmers by weaseling out of agreement" (video). YouTube.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jason Koebler (11 September 2018). "Farmer Lobbying Group Sells Out Farmers, Helps Enshrine John Deere's Tractor Repair Monopoly" (article). Vice Media.
- ↑ Louis Rossmann (13 Feb 2021). "An important message from Louis Rossmann" (video). YouTube.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Deere in the Headlights: How software that farmers can't access has become necessary to tractor repair" (article). PIRG. 5 Feb 2021.