{"id":1721,"date":"2026-02-05T18:24:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/epa-affirms-farmers-right-to-repair\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T18:24:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:24:06","slug":"epa-affirms-farmers-right-to-repair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/epa-affirms-farmers-right-to-repair\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Affirms Farmers\u2019 Right to\u00a0Repair"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 5, 2025 <\/b>\u2013 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued<\/a> new guidance this week that makes it clear that manufacturers cannot use the Clean Air Act to prevent farmers from fixing their own equipment.<\/p>\n

Farmers have been fighting<\/a> for the right to repair their own tractors and other equipment for years. Some companies have justified preventing them from doing so by citing<\/a> emissions controls provisions included in the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n

In 2023, then-President Joe Biden\u2019s EPA sent a letter<\/a> to the National Farmers Union (NFU<\/a>) saying that the agency\u2019s position was that manufacturers could not do that. So while the guidance issued this week is not a change in policy, representatives of the NFU and Farm Action said they were glad to see the position re-affirmed by the Trump administration. In a statement<\/a>, NFU president Rob Larew called it \u201can encouraging message to farm country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Carden, research and policy director at Farm Action<\/a>, told Civil Eats it was significant to hear EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin call out manufacturers for falsely claiming environmental laws were preventing them from allowing farmers to do their own repairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they haven\u2019t addressed the fact that farmers don\u2019t have the tools they need to make these repairs,\u201d she said. As a next step, Farm Action will push the agency to require that manufacturers provide those tools.<\/p>\n

The NFU has a similar position. \u201cThis guidance does not guarantee a farmer\u2019s right to repair,\u201d Larew said. \u201cWe need durable solutions that guarantee repair access on fair and reasonable terms so that independent repair is fully available, affordable, and accessible, and manufacturers who prevent independent repair are held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit<\/a> against John Deere in January 2025, alleging the manufacturer used monopolistic practices that deprive farmers of the ability to make timely repairs, driving up the cost of maintenance.<\/p>\n

John Deere has said the lawsuit ignores its commitment to customer self-repair and consistent progress and innovation related to the issue. \u201cThe complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,\u201d the company said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So far, that case is proceeding. At the end of January, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said<\/a> the Trump administration\u2019s position is that \u201cfarmers should be able to repair their own equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration is taking a position publicly on it. Whether that is going to be a position that turns into actionable changes for the farmers has yet to be seen,\u201d Carden said. \u201cJohn Deere\u2019s monopoly is ultimately the biggest issue.\u201d (Link to this post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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The post EPA Affirms Farmers\u2019 Right to\u00a0Repair<\/a> appeared first on Civil Eats<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 5, 2025 \u2013 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new guidance this week that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/authorwebsitepublishing.xyz\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}