Members of AEM’s ag sector board and EDA released a statement of principles articulating the tools they will make available through authorized dealers to empower farmers and ranchers to perform basic service, maintenance and repairs on their equipment.

By 2021, manufacturers and dealers will make available:

  • Manuals (operator, parts, service)
  • Product guides
  • Product service demonstrations, training, seminars or clinics
  • Fleet management information
  • On-board diagnostics via diagnostics port or wireless interface
  • Electronic field diagnostic service tools, and training on how to use them
  • Other publications with information on service, parts, operation and safety

This information, which some manufacturers already make available, will empower farmers and ranchers to perform basic service, maintenance and repairs – or determine whether a repair issue on their tractor or combine is a more complex issue that requires the assistance of their dealer.

“Equipment manufacturers are proud to act decisively to provide our customers with commonsense solutions they have asked for to easily make simple repairs to their tractors or combines, or assess when to involve a dealer,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “This strikes the right balance in the way ‘right to repair’ legislation would not.”

“Manufacturers and dealers invest considerable resources in making sure their customers have what they need to be successful,” said EDA President Kim Rominger. “This commitment by our industry is a market solution to a market need. Dealers and manufacturers will ensure that end users have the tools they need to perform maintenance and basic repairs on their equipment and to allow them to quickly identify more serious issues, which require the assistance of a dealer. Simply put, our industry commitment is to ensure that folks have the ‘right to repair’ while continuing to work against attempts to improperly modify equipment so as to compromise safety and emissions features.”

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AEM and EDA also jointly launched a new website to help publicize this commitment. The website features additional detail about the statement of principles and “right to repair” legislation, as well as a video that explains the manufacturer and dealer commitment in greater detail.

This campaign is intended to underscore for state lawmakers why so-called “right to repair” legislation is unnecessary. Those proposals would risk undermining manufacturers’ investment in software development, and jeopardize machinery’s compliance with environmental and safety regulations.  end mark

For more details, contact AEM State Government Relations Director Stephanie See via email.

—From Association of Equipment Manufacturers news release