Equipment and truck manufacturers will have to update software to prevent power loss
Members of the ag community support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent ruling on DEF guidelines for heavy trucks and off-road equipment.
The agency issued guidance on Aug. 12 to manufacturers about how they can modify DEF systems on new and existing vehicles and equipment “to reduce derates that can limit a vehicle’s performance to nearly inoperable levels.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the announcement at the Iowa State Fair.
In current DEF systems, if the system runs out of fluid or part of it fails, it can trigger the vehicle to reduce speed to as slow as five miles per hour.
Beginning with model year 2027 diesel engines, the EPA states all new vehicles must be wired to avoid this kind of sudden power loss. Manufacturers will also have to update software on existing vehicles.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins supports this decision.
Ensuring farm equipment is constantly operating at peak levels is what producers need during critical times.
“This common sense reform will allow our agricultural producers to spend more time in the fields than in the repair shop,” she said in a statement.
The American Farm Bureau is also pleased with the EPA’s directive.
Farmers can’t afford breakdowns because “that could be the difference between getting a crop harvested or animals to their destination,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.
This move will also support farmers financially.
The EPA’s decision could save family farms up to $727 million per year, the Small Business Administration says.