Southeast specialty crop producers will soon benefit from an agreement signed last weekend to ensure farmers’ rights to repair their own farm equipment.
Photo courtesy of Alabama Farmers Federation.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Deere & Co. signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the 2023 AFBF Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“It is more important now than ever that our farmers have the tools, information and resources they need to repair their own equipment when they need, where they need,” said Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell. “Equipment is expensive; it and other input costs keep rising, so getting a crop in the ground or out of the field in a timely manner is important and critical to our bottom line. We’re excited to see how this memorandum practically affects our farmers.”
The agreement formalizes farmers’ access to diagnostic and repair codes, as well as manuals (operator, parts, service, etc.) and product guides. It also ensures farmers will be able to purchase diagnostic tools directly from John Deere and receive assistance from the manufacturer when ordering parts and products. The MOU allows independent mechanics or repair shops access to those same tools.
John Deere Senior Vice President of Ag & Turf Sales & Marketing David Gilmore said the agreement reaffirms the longstanding commitment Deere has to ensure customers have diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines.
“We look forward to working alongside the American Farm Bureau and our customers in the months and years ahead to ensure farmers continue to have the tools and resources to diagnose, maintain and repair their equipment,” Gilmore said.
The MOU has the potential to serve as a model for other manufacturers, and AFBF has begun those discussions.
Read the MOU here.