{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-demands-john-deere-explain-disgraceful-attempts-to-prevent-farmers-from-repairing-their-own-equipment", "Warren Demands John Deere Explain \u201cDisgraceful\u201d Attempts to Prevent Farmers from Repairing Their Own Equipment", "2024-10-03", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren Demands John Deere Explain \u201cDisgraceful\u201d Attempts to Prevent Farmers from Repairing Their Own Equipment\n\nRaises Concern about Company Undermining Right-to-Repair Agreements, Violating Clean Air Act\n\nRepair restrictions like John Deere\u2019s hurt farmers and consumers across the country; cost American farmers $4.2 billion per year\n\n\u201cJohn Deere has repeatedly interfered with farmers\u2019 ability to repair the equipment they own, including by blocking independent repairs to maximize profit, negotiating an MOU in bad faith, and failing to inform farmers of their rights in potential violation of the Clean Air Act.\u201d\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nBoston, MA \u2013 U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Deere & Company (John Deere) accusing the company of undermining its own \u201cright-to-repair\u201d agreements and evading its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act by failing to grant its customers the right to repair their own agricultural equipment.\n\nJohn Deere restricts farmers from repairing broken equipment themselves, even when they have the knowledge and tools to do so, instead forcing them to wait for weeks until a John Deere technician is available, and risking missed crop windows on which farmers\u2019 livelihoods rely. In Massachusetts, there are just three John Deere dealerships for 470,000 acres of farm operations, or 2,400 farms per dealership. Farmers nationwide lose an average of $3,348 per year \u201cdirectly tied to downtime and repair restrictions imposed by equipment manufacturers.\u201d Repair restrictions cost U.S. farmers $4.2 billion per year.\n\n\u201cWhile John Deere\u2019s profits spike thanks to this strategy, farmers suffer,\u201d wrote Senator Warren.\n\nIn fact, by overcharging for repair services, John Deere has seen its profits streaming in. Since 2020 the company has seen a 270% increase in profits, despite labor strikes, supply disruptions, a drop in sales, and a global pandemic.\n\nAfter years of legal battles, in January 2023, John Deere signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) promising to provide farmers and independent repair shops with the diagnostic tools and information they need to make repairs to their machines. But the MOU appeared to be a veiled attempt to hold off the passage of \u201cright-to-repair\u201d legislation. In exchange for pledges to provide the information and tools needed for farmers to make repairs, John Deere secured a politically valuable promise from the American Farm Bureau Federation to encourage American farmers not to introduce, promote, or support federal or state right-to-repair legislation that imposed obligations beyond the MOU\u2019s commitments.\n\nJohn Deere is not upholding its side of the bargain, and appears to have negotiated the MOU in bad faith. Rather than allow farmers meaningful opportunity to repair their equipment, John Deere has provided inadequate tools and disclosures.\n\nThe software tool offered to farmers redacts or obfuscates functions and information required to complete repairs. Further, earlier this year, John Deere admitted to omitting a legally required addendum about repair rights from its manuals.\n\nThe exclusion of this information may violate the Clean Air Act, which requires manufacturers to \u201cprovide in boldface type on the first page of the written maintenance instructions notice that maintenance, replacement, or repair \u2026 may be performed by any automotive repair establishment or individual.\u201d The EPA warned John Deere that its manuals were not in compliance with EPA regulations.\n\n\u201cJohn Deere has repeatedly interfered with farmers\u2019 ability to repair the equipment they own, including by blocking independent repairs to maximize profit, negotiating an MOU in bad faith, and failing to inform farmers of their rights in potential violation of the Clean Air Act,\u201d wrote Senator Warren. \u201cDeere\u2019s attempts to stave off right-to-repair reforms that would save American farmers $4.2 billion per year are disgraceful.\u201d\n\nSenator Warren asked John Deere to respond to questions related to the company\u2019s repair restrictions and apparent failure to comply with the law by October 17, 2024.\n\nSenator Warren has repeatedly sought to bolster competition and fight back against costly restrictions on repairs for cars, military equipment, and other goods:\n\nIn September 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent two letters regarding the costly restrictions imposed on the Department of Defense that bar the military from repairing its own military equipment and instead force it to pay billions of dollars extra to military contractors.\n\nIn July 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren included a provision in the Senate Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA that would require contractors to provide DoD with \u201cfair and reasonable\u201d access to repair materials.\n\nIn August 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), celebrated the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reversing course and allowing enforcement of Massachusetts\u2019 pro-consumer Right to Repair law.\n\nIn June 2023, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reverse its course after it sent a recent letter to auto manufacturers, advising them not to comply with Massachusetts\u2019 Right to Repair law.\n\nIn February 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus King (I-Maine), and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) urged the Department of Health and Human Services to move forward with the march-in petition submitted for the prostate cancer drug Xtandi.\n\nIn July 2021, Senator Warren and Representative Doggett (D-Texas) sent a letter to the Department of Defense requesting information about steps taken to reduce costs of DoD-funded prescription drugs and medical products.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-demands-john-deere-explain-disgraceful-attempts-to-prevent-farmers-from-repairing-their-own-equipment"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9119920432567596, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}