Right to repair would cut costs for farmers, Fed Farmers says

Thursday, 17 April 2025

A right to repair farming equipment could support a rural repair workforce, according to Federated Farmers.

A “right to repair” consumer goods bill wending its way through select committee has got a big tick from Federated Farmers, who would like to be able to access easier repair options for farm machinery.

The Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee recently heard submissions on the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment bill proposed by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson late last year.

The bill aims to reduce waste, create a repair workforce and cut costs for consumers by requiring manufacturers to make parts and information more available to consumers, and extending the lifetime of consumer goods.

It excludes goods for commercial use, including farming businesses, but Federated Farmers said it was a good start for rural communities.

Dairy industry chair Richard McIntyre spoke in support of the bill, telling the select committee that rural communities had issues accessing spare parts, tractor and machinery repair.

“Farmers need the right to repair the gear they rely on every day, like tractors, harvesters, and milking systems, without being locked into a single expensive repair pathway,” McIntyre said. “Right now, that's not possible and it's costing farmers.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defends his government’s stance on climate agreements, trade, and farming policies. He says withdrawing from global pacts would harm NZ’s economy and vows to support farmers while balancing international commitments.

He said current agricultural machinery manufacturers, largely John Deere, required repairs to be done by authorised dealers.

“Some of these diagnostic programmes are sitting behind digital walls. They require laptops with manufacturer-specific logins, long dongles or passwords. Without those, even identifying a fault can be impossible.”

But that was only if an authorised service agent was nearby.

“In many rural areas, there isn't,” McIntyre said.

Repairers were often based in urban or semi-rural centres which left remote farmers with long wait times and high costs for “premium” repairs and travel, which impacted animal welfare, harvest schedules and rural supply chains.

“When your tractor's stuck in a paddock with a fault code you can't clear, it's not just annoying, it's a handbrake on productivity.”

Richard McIntyre from Federated Farmers told the select committee that farmers need access to quicker farming machinery repairs for business productivity.

McIntyre said farmers weren’t looking to cut corners around safety standards but were asking for the ability to get the job done, especially when “time is of the essence”.

“We already paid for the machine. We should be able to fix it and take it to the repairer we trust, not just the one on the manufacturer's approved list.”

He said passing the right to repair bill would create more market competition as current repair systems only allowed for the manufacturer to administer repairs, which had seen prices go up and services slowed.

“A functioning right-to-repair system means manufacturers must provide reasonable access to parts, tools, and information … and lets farmers choose what works best for their business.”

In January, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) slapped John Deere with a class action lawsuit for monopolising the agricultural repair market and driving up costs for American farmers.

US-based John Deere came under fire from the FTC in January for monoplising agriculture machinery repairs.

“We don't want to end up in this position here,” McIntyre said. “We'd rather this bill helped ameliorate those issues, and it goes a long way towards doing that.”

He said more repairer competition would support rural economic development by creating a stronger local repair workforce.

Select committee and National party member Dr Hamish Campbell avoided naming John Deere but questioned McIntyre about the bill’s efficacy on rural agribusiness, which did not cover goods for commercial use.

McIntyre said the bill should cover agricultural machinery which would allow local independent repairers to expand in rural areas.

Tractor and Machinery Association president Jaiden Drought said the group also supported the bill, even though he argued about the level of barriers to repair.

“We feel that dealerships and manufacturers have invested a huge amount of money in upskilling their staff and providing the tools required to support these machines,” Drought said.

The former territory manager for John Deere said agricultural machinery manufacturers adequately supplied parts for repair, but raised concerns about the bill removing the right to modify equipment.

For example, he said some farmers opted to up the horsepower of their tractors.

“Our main concern is that the right to modify is not confused with the right to repair,” Drought said.

“In a warranty period, we would still like to see those manufacturers, delegated dealers and the associated [repairers] do that repair, rather than some Joe Bloggs who's a backyard mechanic.”

Green party’s Davidson acknowledged the difference between the right to modify and the right to repair. She said the right to modify machinery was not included in the amendment bill, which would uphold farmers’ right to modify equipment.

The select committee is expected to report back on August 18 before going to its second reading in Parliament, after passing its first reading on February 19.