For farmers, few examples of corporate constraints are more frustrating than repair restrictions and patent rights that prevent them performing maintenance on equipment they own outright.
This story was originally published by The Conversation. As tractors became more sophisticated over the past two decades, the big manufacturers allowed
Farmers are hopeful the laws will allow them to repair their tractors. New York passed the first broad right-to-repair law, in 2022, and nearly two dozen states have active legislation about half of them targeting farm equipment.