SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Ranchers and farmers will now have the right to repair their own equipment based on a Memorandum of Understanding issued from John Deere.
According to American Farm Bureau Federal president Zippy Duvall, the issue has been a priority for the farm organization, noting that John Deere’s restrictive repair policies have been a problem for the nation’s commodity producers.
The move comes after farmers from multiple states, including South Dakota, filed a class action lawsuit in October 2022 against John Deere regarding their ability to repair their own equipment
David Gilmore of John Deere says the MOU will help ranchers and farmers get equipment back in productive use quickly following a breakdown.
“It’s vitally important that we have an opportunity for American Farm Bureau Federation and industry to come together to solve issues and opportunities that we have. Machinery and equipment and the products that our customers invest in are a large investment. And the opportunity for them to maximize the uptime of that equipment and minimize downtime is an important area of focus for our organization and for the industry.”
President Duvall explains what ranchers and farmers can expect as a result of the partnership.
“It ensures that our producers can repair their equipment and have access to the diagnostic tools and product guides so that they can find the problems and find solutions for them. And this is the beginning of a process that we think is going to be real healthy for our farmers and ranchers and for the company because what it does is it sets up an opportunity for our producers to really work with John Deere on a personal basis.”
AFBF hopes the MOU will serve as a model for other manufacturers. Those discussions have already begun. Learn more at fb.org.
