Farmers have won the first step in the fight to repair their own agricultural equipment thanks to Colorado’s lawmakers. Yesterday, Gov. Jared Polis signed the Consumer Right to Repair Agriculture Equipment Act.
“This important bipartisan legislation will save hardworking farmers and ranchers time and money on repairs, and support Colorado’s thriving agriculture industry,” wrote Polis on social media after signing the bill.
As things currently stand in many states, an owner of agricultural equipment must seek diagnostic, maintenance, or repair services of the equipment from the agricultural equipment manufacturer.
Colorado’s bill kicks into effect January 1, 2024, requiring manufacturers to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, manuals or other information necessary to conduct diagnostic, maintenance, or repair services on the owner’s agricultural equipment.
“This is a common-sense bipartisan bill to help people avoid unnecessary delays from equipment repairs. Farmers and ranchers can lose precious weeks and months when equipment repairs are stalled due to long turnaround times by manufacturers and dealers. This bill will change that,” furthered Polis.
The bill works by folding agricultural equipment into pre-existing consumer right-to-repair statutes. While it does protect farmers from unnecessary expenditures or downtime with their equipment, it doesn’t allow for unauthorized modifications that affect safety or emissions compliance. It also does not allow for “any conduct that would evade emissions, copyright, trademark, or patent laws.”
Along with the consumer right to repair bill, Polis signed another bill, the Extend Agricultural Workforce Development Program. The bill allows internships under the workforce development program to last for up to one year in duration and extends the repeal date of the program to July 2029.
»Related: Farmers ‘right to repair’ equipment hits 11 state legislatures
