Legislators heard two hours of testimony over a bill to allow Montana producers to fix their own equipment.
When machinery breaks down, Montana farmers can face costly wait times for repairs.
A bill proposed by Havre Democratic House Rep. Paul Tuss would require equipment manufacturers to provide producers with the tools and information to repair their own equipment.
Tuss says this would help those without easy access to a dealer.
“Per manufacturer policy, repairs can only be performed at an authorized repair location or by an authorized technician. In our state there are few of these facilities and not enough technicians to go around. Wait times for repairs can be several days."
Opponents of the bill say hi-tech modern farm equipment requires specialized training to fix. Wayne Fischer represents farm equipment company Torgerson.
“In my opinion, an end producer that isn't used to and efficient and proficient at using this tool is going to create far more issues for themselves than they're ever going to solve,” he says.
Proponents argue this bill could save farmers time and money. They also said the legislation is needed to push manufacturers to comply with previous Right to Repair agreements.
Companies like John Deere have reached agreements with the American Farm Bureau Federation to comply with Right to Repair. However, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company in January for failing to meet those terms.
Here’s Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schwiezter.
“Right to repair has not been fixed. The FTC agrees. The Department of Justice agrees. A handful of state attorney generals agree that it's not been fixed."
The bill is under review by the House Business and Labor Committee.
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