Just before harvest, my John Deere tractor displayed an unknown error code and would only idle; I could not use it for any work. John Deere requires that the tractor be brought to them and in two or three weeks they would hook it up to the computer and diagnose the problem. I had an independent mechanic come out the next day but John Deere does not allow anyone to access the tractor’s computer. There is no right to repair your own equipment.
I testified at a Battle Ground hearing Marie Gluesenkamp Perez held on farming issues in Clark County. As an owner of a repair shop, she is very familiar with right-to-repair issues and is working on the Farm Bill to include right to repair in it.
Her opponent, Joe Kent, seems focused on supporting Trump’s many lies about the election, COVID, Putin’s war in Ukraine, etc.
Perez is focused on local issues, not face time on Fox News and the far-right playpen in Congress, where Kent would fit in.
