John Deere X9 Combine.Image source, Deere & Co

John Deere's US customers will be able to fix their own equipment.

Farmers used to only be allowed to use authorized parts and services.

Deere and Co. is a large maker of farming equipment.

For years, consumer groups have been calling on companies to allow their customers to fix things.

On Sunday, the American Farm Bureau Federation and Deere signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

It addresses a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to accessing tools, information and resources, while protecting John Deere's intellectual property rights and ensuring equipment safety, according to the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Equipment owners and independent technicians will not be allowed to trade secrets, override safety features or adjust power levels.

Dave Gilmore, a senior vice president at Deere & Co., said the firm looks forward to working with the AFBF to make sure farmers have the tools and resources to diagnose, maintain and repair their equipment.

Farmers are part of a grassroots right-to-repair movement that is putting pressure on manufacturers to allow customers to fix their devices.

Apple gave customers the ability to replace their own batteries, screens and cameras in a self-service repair scheme.

There are policies in the UK and European Union that make spare parts available to customers.

According to the European Parliamentary Research Service, consumers have long been complaining that products not only break down faster than they used to, but that repairing them is often too costly, difficult to arrange for lack of spare parts, and sometimes impossible.

Similar measures have been passed in some US states. President Biden ordered the Federal Trade Commission to come up with a countrywide policy that would allow customers to repair their own products.

Media caption,

Testing out a new phone.