John Deere Is Facing a Farmer Revolt

John Deere boasted record profits in 2021 and finally struck a deal with striking union workers. But now it has a bigger problem: farmers are revolting against restrictions on how they repair complex equipment.

#Technology #TheBreakdown #BloombergQuicktake

--------

QuickTake Originals is Bloomberg's official premium video channel. We bring you insights and analysis from business, science, and technology experts who are shaping our future. We’re home to Hello World, Giant Leap, Storylines, and the series powering CityLab, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Green, and much more.

Subscribe for business news, but not as you've known it: exclusive interviews, fascinating profiles, data-driven analysis, and the latest in tech innovation from around the world.

Visit our partner channel QuickTake News for breaking global news and insight in an instant.

[cj]

I believe in the Right to Repair. The path all these companies are on is wrong. We need to fight this.

[THEJR-oftf]

I am 100% behind the farmers on this. They should have the option to repair their equipment themselves.

[quantumphaser]

It's John Deere that wouldn't exist without farmers, not the other way around.

[Robert]

Knowing not much about this, John Deere lost me the moment they equated the safety of a tractor going down a dirt road to a 777 flying at 40, 000 ft with 200+ people flying over the pacific ocean.

[handrail]

The John Deere spokesman making a claim that a tractor (going down the road at 10mph) has the same safety concerns as an airplane (going 600mph at 30, 000 feet) was hilarious. I'll bet it was hard for him to keep a straight face.

[vincentrobinette]

"Safety" is the hypothetical "buzz word" used by any company trying to keep technology proprietary. We all know, it's nothing more than a money grab. I'm rooting for the farmers!!

[fw]

I’m with the farmers when it comes to being able to repair their own equipment.

[jimkirk]

What John Deere is doing is despicable. Once machinery is out of warranty they have NO right to refuse tech support and refuse to sell parts. Insisting it must be by THEIR service amounts to a protection racket. Organized Crime.

[rjwilkins]

Another factor not mentioned - Deere has eliminated smaller dealers by forcing them to sell out, or simply forcing them out of business with tactics that skirt legality and are ethically bankrupt.

[elietheprof]

Hospitals are facing similar problems with repairing medical equipment. Health care prices are skyrocketing!
*United we stand:*
Farmers, doctors, nurses, engineers, technicians and everyone else.
We're all in this together for the right to repair!

[bikeracerdude]

*Unless John Deere fully commits to truly supporting "right to repair"- I'll never buy JD again.*

[nigelmcconnell]

It's interesting that when a farmer here in Victoria, Australia retired he looked back through his records and noticed that the fuel consumption per acre for cropping was identical in the 1970's up to the 2010. Just the size and repair costs of the machinery

[IamMugs]

Kudos to Louis Rossman for helping bringing this issue to the forefront. Not just for cellphones, but across the board

[jailbreaker]

imagine spending 100 grand on a piece of equipment and not being allowed to repair it without consequences. These companies need to be humbled.

[cchavezjr]

This is what happens when people feel they have to be loyal to a brand and that saying they bleed green is some sort of badge of honor.

[mithrillis]

What is incredible about Right to Repair is that you have people from all walks of life joining in, from farmers to electronics consumers. Many of these people may never agree on "trending" topics the politicians, news or social media influencers would love to talk about, but they come together to face the issue nonetheless. This is a great example of people finding allies for problems they truly care about, rather than caring about problems based on which camp they are in.

[nicobellic]

Massive respect to the farmers out there. Clarkson's farm taught me a lot. A lot of work goes into farming and razor sharp margins. Support Right to repair.

[deusexaethera]

The fact that it's still being debated is a demonstration of how broken the system is. Patent and copyright laws already protect intellectual property; it is not necessary to ban people from repairing their own equipment in order to prevent them from seeing how it works, because it's already illegal for them to rip-off whatever proprietary technology they find inside.

[mikeabc]

Smart thing for farmers to do would be to dump John Deere and to turn to Caterpillar since they manufacture more reliable equipment that is not locked. John Deere is a clear indication why we must breakup large corporations and limit corporate monopoly.

[TheGenericavatar]

Right to Repair is an issue I first saw about 2-4 years ago in terms of an article about John Deere viewing factory repair services as a profit center. Specifically, a part prone to failure that the tractor would not let itself be operated without working. The problem was that it was not user repairable. The user/owner would have to wait 2 weeks for a factory service tech to come out to replace it. This usually happened during the short harvesting window.

It was so bad that older JD tractors sold for a LOT of money because they were owner repairable, unlike later models.