Colorado passes right to repair for ranchers, farmers
Colorado has become the first state in the nation to provide ranchers and farmers the right to repair their own equipment. On April 25th, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law HB23-1011–Consumer Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment, enabling equipment owners – as well as independent service providers – to fix their own machinery and compelling manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals, tools, parts and software to do so. The law takes effect January 1, 2024.
“I am proud to sign this important bipartisan legislation that saves hardworking farmers and ranchers time and money on repairs, and supports Colorado’s thriving agriculture industry,” said Polis. “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.”
The bill states, in part:
- A manufacturer’s failure to comply with the requirement to provide resources is a deceptive trade practice;
- In complying with the requirement to provide resources, a manufacturer need not divulge any trade secrets to independent repair providers and owners; and
- Any new contractual provision or other arrangement that a manufacturer enters into that would remove or limit the manufacturer’s obligation to provide resources to independent repair providers and owners is void and unenforceable; and
- An independent repair provider or owner is not authorized to make modifications to agricultural equipment that permanently deactivate any safety notification system or bring the equipment out of compliance with safety or emissions laws or to engage in any conduct that would evade emissions, copyright, trademark, or patent laws.
The full bill can be read here.
Chad Franke, president of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, states: “We have been tireless advocates for farmers and ranchers on this issue for years and are very proud that we were intimately involved in the passage of the bill in Colorado. Farmers and ranchers in Colorado will now be able to diagnose and repair their own equipment however they choose.
“In addition to still being able to have a dealer diagnose and repair the equipment, farmers and ranchers now also have to opportunity to use an independent repair provider if they choose not to fix the equipment themselves,” Franke continues. “Simply put, farmers and ranchers now have the freedom to choose how to repair the equipment that they own without the burdensome restrictions that could leave their equipment down at a critical time for their operation.”
In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously voted to ramp up law-enforcement against repair restrictions that prevent consumers, small businesses and others from fixing their owned products. About a year later, the FTC announced it was taking action against Westinghouse Outdoor Power Equipment/MWE Investments as well as Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group for illegally restricting customers’ right to repair their purchased products.
