US farmers make progress on right to repair with John Deere

Mar 22, 2023

For some time now original equipment manufacturers have denied farmers the right to repair their own machinery. John Deere and the American Farm Bureau developed a memorandum of understanding, earlier this year to change that.

This is a major shift for the agriculture sector, where Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in both Canada and the United States have restricted farmers’ ability to access the technology embedded in their products, including diagnostic and repair codes and service manuals.

While this is not a free for all, there is an understanding that John Deere’s intellectual property must be preserved. US farmers can also be assured that emergency repairs in the field, in a timely manner, on their John Deere equipment won’t end up in prosecution.

The new MOU signed by John Deere and the American Farm Bureau also has the potential to serve as a model for other manufacturers and in other jurisdictions like Canada and hopefully soon.

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Source : Small Farm Canada

Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies