Posted on 02/13/2023 10:39:25 AM PST by Olog-hai
On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out.
The tractor’s manufacturer doesn’t allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950.
“That’s where they have us over the barrel; it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,” said Wood, who spent $300,000 on the used tractor.
Wood’s plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — thereby avoiding steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits. […]
In Colorado, the legislation is largely being pushed by Democrats while their Republican colleagues find themselves stuck in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents asking to be able to repair their own machines and the manufacturing businesses that oppose the idea.
The manufacturers argue that changing the current practice with this type of legislation would would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators’ safety and the environment. …
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
We have an old Ford tractor - no computer codes. It would probably sell for a reasonable amount these days.
While an editor at AP may be checking to see if this can somehow be blamed on racism or Climate Change.
“Right to repair” has been fought tooth and nail by John Deere.
My good neighbor Dave the farmer finally got so sick of dealing with their BS that he sold all of his tillage and harvesting equipment and retired from dirt farming.
None of my ag tractors have a computer. The newest one was built in 1985. I can fix them all in the driveway.
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