On Thursday, lawmakers at the Montana House Business and Labor Committee heard House Bill 390, a bipartisan effort to allow farmers to repair their equipment without going through a licensed dealer. Opponents say this could lead to dangerous modifications, while supporters say the state does not have enough resources to meet current needs.
Watch to learn more about Right to Repair efforts in Montana:
“Per manufacturer policy, repairs can only be performed at an authorized repair location or by an authorized technician. In our state, there are few these facilities and not enough technicians to go around,” said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre. “Wait times for repairs can be several days. Let’s unleash the power and ingenuity of the free market on this situation.”
As modern farm equipment has become more complex, farmers and ranchers have accused manufacturers of limiting access to critical tools and parts to repair those pieces of equipment.
John Deere is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission and two other states over its policies. According to the FTC complaint, John Deere only allows dealers access to its interactive software tool, shutting out independent repair shops and individual farmers. John Deere says the claim is a misrepresentation of its products and services.
HB 390 would require original equipment manufacturers to make available to any independent repair provider or owner of the equipment the parts and tools needed to make repairs at a fair price.
Proponents of the bill – including several independent farmers, The Montana Farmers Union, and the Montana Cattlemen's Association – said there are not enough dealers and technicians across the state to handle the need when equipment breaks down causing crops to rot and farms to lose money.
“I completely love my dealers, I love the people that I work with, but there’s not enough of them,” said Montana farmer Sarah Degn. “And when we can’t access the tools we need to repair ourselves, our local mechanics who are also great can’t do it, we sit and we wait and we watch our crops rot in the field and we lose money every day.”
Ron Harmon, owner of Big Equipment Company an agriculture equipment dealer in Havre, testified it’s ultimately a money decision for dealers not to make changes to the current system.
“It’s wrong. It’s the only industry that has tied down the farmer to say ‘You’re going to come to my dealership, you’re going to buy the parts from me and I’m the only one who can repair it.’ Ladies and gentlemen, it ought not be a partisan decision here,” said Harmon.
The opposition to the legislation included the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Montana Farm Bureau and multiple agriculture equipment dealers and organizations.
Opponents said farmers can already get parts for wear and tear maintenance and worry it could lead to unsafe repairs by untrained individuals
“With the language in this bill, it does open the door for modifications which is the scary part,” said Luke Anderson with C & B Operations in Montana. “And those include deleting emissions, increasing horsepower, and overriding safety stops. It can result in equipment failures, malfunctions and dangerous accidents.”
Montana Farm Bureau representative Nicole Rolf also noted some of the large manufacturers have entered into memorandums of understanding with state Farm Bureaus to address Right to Repair concerns.
“We believe the MOUs are working and doing their jobs,” testified Rolf. “The MOUs cover about three-quarters of the ag machinery sold in the U.S… While these were created by the American Farm Bureau these apply to every owner of equipment.”
Critics of the memorandums say they’re non-binding contracts and don’t address the real issue at hand.
This is the third session Right to Repair legislation has been proposed, with past efforts dying in the process and not making it to the floor.
Supporters of HB 390 are hopeful this year given it has support from a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, but they’ll have to wait to see how members of the Montana House Business and Labor Committee vote.
