Deere & Co. and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) signed an MOU over the weekend, granting access to tools and repair information.
“This has been a major focus of ours for many years and we have put in a lot of effort to reach this point,” said AFBF President Vincent Duvall. “We all know that, when using equipment, there are bound to be issues with it at some point. We had difficulty being able to fix our machinery where we wanted or even on the farm itself.”
Deere SVP David Gilmore affirms, “This agreement demonstrates our long-standing commitment to providing customers with the necessary tools and information for making their own repairs. We look forward to partnering with the American Farm Bureau and our customers in order to continue delivering diagnostic capabilities and resources that assist farmers.”
[Deere] shall ensure that any Farmer, including any staff or independent technician assisting a Farmer at a Farmer’s request, and any Independent Repair Facility that provides assistance to Farmers, has electronic access on Fair and Reasonable terms to Manufacturer’s Tools, Specialty Tools, Software and Documentation.
[Deere] will provide Farmers, their staff and independent technicians, as well as Independent Repair Facilities with fair and reasonable electronic access to Manufacturer’s Tools, Specialty Tools, Software and Documentation.
Facing mounting customer pressure to open repairability and complaints of systems breaking down quickly, Deere has now allowed farmers to visit non-authorized dealers for repairs. However, trade secrets and confidential information will remain undisclosed; plus safety features, emissions controls or power levels may not be adjusted.
It appears repairs for consumers may become harder as Deere turns to robotics for future systems.
