Farm Equipment Dealers Block 'Right to Repair' Provision in North Carolina

North Carolina's largest newspaper, Raleigh's News & Observer newspaper, reports that "In the face of stiff opposition from farm equipment companies and dealers, North Carolina state senators on Tuesday walked back a provision that would have widened access to the repair of farming equipment."The so-called "right to repair" provision was included in the Farm Act of 2022, Senate Bill 762, which was discussed Tuesday in the Senate's Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee. As introduced, the bill would have required manufacturers of farming equipment that relies on digital components to make diagnostic equipment and parts available at "fair and reasonable terms." Representatives of national farm equipment trade groups and North Carolina equipment dealers opposed the bill. Allowing repairs outside of authorized shops, they argued, could damage equipment, pose a risk of injury, and make it possible for farming equipment to violate the Clean Air Act. After hearing from seven people, Sen. Brent Jackson, a Sampson County Republican, replaced the right to repair provision with language calling on the General Assembly's Agricultural and Forestry Awareness Study Commission to evaluate whether further action is necessary. More from North Carolina TV station WRAL: Manufacturers and their licensed dealerships counter that they spend millions of dollars stocking parts and training field technicians to service equipment safely and within the parameters of federal laws like the Clean Air Act. More than a dozen dealers and representatives lined up to speak against the provision in the state Senate agriculture committee Tuesday... [Right-to-repair] supporters were far outnumbered by opponents, who warned that giving consumers access to embedded software would allow unsafe or illegal modifications to the equipment, from emissions compliance to safety shutoffs. Philip Brooks, a dealer from Monroe, said his service techs receive extensive training. "A simple common rail diesel system with a line broken loose with a wrench under pressure can kill a man. We need to be careful of all these things," he told the committee. Brian Jennings, a farm equipment dealer from Elizabeth City, testified: "I do not support the attacks - and I call them attacks - on our business. We are contracted dealers. We spend a lot of money to be dealers."

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