The head of the Federal Trade Commission joined Colorado officials and farmers for a roundtable focusing on the need for federal right-to-repair legislation Friday in Longmont.
Alongside U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, both Democrats, Lina Khan, chair of the FTC, listened to feedback from farmers about the difficulties they have repairing farming equipment with little access to mechanics and parts as dealers continue to consolidate and limit their options, particularly when machines are still under warranty.
The FTC enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws, which Khan said includes scrutinizing mergers and looking at anti-competitive practices.
“As part of that work, we’ve been scrutinizing illegal repair restrictions, and we’ve heard a lot, including from farmers, about how, as we see more and more products become more digitized, manufacturers have more and more opportunities to restrict how you all can fix your own products,” Khan said.
For farmers, delays in machine repairs could mean thousands of dollars worth of crops being lost. Members of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union shared stories about how they’ve had to get creative to get a machine working when a dealer isn’t able to send someone to fix the machine under warranty in a timely manner.
The Colorado Legislature passed a bill last year that starts to address the problem for farmers. State Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat who was present for the roundtable at Ollin Farms, sponsored the bill that requires manufacturers of equipment like tractors and combine harvesters to sell tools, parts and digital information to farmers and independent shops so they can make their own diagnoses and repairs.
Titone, who has led three right-to-repair bills in the Legislature, said that while federal legislation is the ideal solution, “states are the incubators of new ideas, and Colorado is the place where we were able to sort of demonstrate what’s possible.”
Khan said Colorado has some of “the strongest right-to-repair legislation in the country.”
Tyler Garrett, director of government relations for RMFU, said right-to-repair policy is about protecting competition and freedom of choice. With two of the largest dealers serving Colorado and surrounding states merging last year, Garrett said farmers and ranchers have been left with little to no options.
“Right-to-repair legislation, simply put, would give farmers and ranchers the freedom to either repair their own equipment, or to take their equipment to a mechanic of their choice to be repaired, may that be the authorized repair provider or an independent repair provider,” Garrett said.
Garrett agreed that while the Colorado policy was a major milestone, federal action is crucial, especially as farmers throughout the state continue to face issues getting the information they need to make repairs despite the requirements of the law that went into effect at the start of this year.
Several participants said Colorado’s law adds confusion for organizations that work across states, and that it hasn’t made as much of a difference as originally hoped, as some dealers and manufacturers continue to withhold information.
“We need federal legislation that provides agricultural producers the ability to get their equipment fixed in a timely manner so that they can continue to provide the food, fiber and fuel to the people of Colorado, the United States and abroad,” Garrett said.
Neguse is a sponsor of the Agricultural Right to Repair Act introduced in Congress last fall, which would require manufacturers make available certain documents, parts and tools to help farmers make repairs themselves.
Erin Karney-Spaur, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said family-owned operations bear the burden of dealer consolidation and that a federal fix will better support them than a piecemeal state-by-state approach.
Danny Wood, also a member of RMFU, said he bought a two-year-old combine harvester for his farm in Peetz, and he was assigned to a warranty dealer in Yuma, which is about 80 miles south. The first day he used the combine, it stopped working after about 100 yards.
The warranty dealer said it likely knew what the problem was, but a mechanic couldn’t come for five days to address it. When someone came to fix it, he discovered he needed to order additional parts, which would take another four or five days. And once the parts came in, Wood still needed to schedule a new appointment another four or five days later to get it repaired.
Instead of waiting, Wood found a dealer in Nebraska who had the right parts, so Wood bought them. But because he went to another dealer, he was told the repair wouldn’t be covered under warranty. His son fixed the problem within five minutes, and the dealer eventually did cover the fix under his warranty.
Khan said hearing directly from the farmers experiencing the effects of consolidation helps her and the rest of the FTC to understand the reality those in agriculture are working in.
“In D.C., it’s really easy to just hear from the biggest companies or well connected lawyers, and it’s really important for us to be able to do our jobs as faithful public servants for us to actually hear from the public,” Khan said.
Khan also had a listening session with Attorney General Phil Weiser Friday morning in Denver to hear about the challenges Coloradans face with renting housing.
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