The technology involved in farm equipment is growing at a rapid rate.
Right now, in the United States, there is a battle over the rights of farmers to fix their own machinery.
Rules that apply to Apple, etc are now being brought over to farm equipment to protect patented technology.
Nebraska farmer Tom Schwarz is active in the Right to Repair movement in the U-S and is one of the presenters during the CropSphere.
“The problem is when they apply rules that they're using to protect that. To us in a lot of cases, they remove the ability of a third party to work on equipment, whether that’s ourselves or a small town mechanic shop. We’ve got to be able to work this out with Deere and these other companies so that you know that technology is available. It can be done in a good manner and a safe manner.”
When a piece of equipment is down timing can be a key issue and a farmer’s ability to fix their own equipment is being compromised by the technology involved as well as the potential legal implications.
Schwarz is just one of many presenters to take the stage during this year’s CropSphere event January 14-16 in Saskatoon.
More information on CropSphere is available here.
CropSphere runs in conjunction with Crop Production Week and the Western Canadian Crop Production Show
Source : Discoverestevan