Posted BY: | NwoReport
Farmers have been battling the manufacturers of their high-tech farming machinery for years over the right to repair their equipment on their own.
Major companies in the space, including John Deere, began restricting products to manufacturer-exclusive service contracts.
These contracts lock out the farmers who own tractors, for instance, from making even small repairs to their machines. Instead, when something breaks down, farmers have to call the manufacturer or dealer to schedule a repairman to come out and service the device, forcing the farmer to shut down his operations while waiting for the repairman to come out to the farm.
This is obviously a serious problem for farmers who are under strict time restrictions during planting and harvesting seasons.
Trending: The Greatest Threat to America
Farmers have been contesting this situation for years, ever since some manufacturers of equipment have begun implementing such exclusionary practices. It has resulted in a campaign among farmers called the “right to repair” movement, where farmers are fighting for the right to make repairs to the tractors and other instruments they bought and own.
This problem is not new. I ran into this when I owned an automotive and light truck repair show more than 10 years ago. A person that buys a product should have the right to have it repaired wherever they want. They should not be restricted to the dealers. If only the dealers can repair a product that is just another type of monopoly. Manufacturers can charge a reasonable price for the tools and tech required to do the repairs. The intellectual property rights issue is not relevant. Because someone somewhere will eventually reverse engineer every product or computer program anyway. The repair monopoly is just a tactic by manufacturers and dealers to capture and keep their customers by forcing them to go back to them for everything.