The latest battleground for reform is Iowa farmland — again

Iowa lawmakers voted To advance the state House Bill 751 Last week, legislation that would ensure Farmers In the state they can freely repair their agricultural equipment, such as tractors. This bill was renamed Tuesday to House File 2709 It will be voted on again. If the political winds blow, it will pass through the Iowa House and Senate before the Iowa Legislature adjourns on April 21.

The bill is the first of nearly 57 government invoices Supported by reform advocates across the country in 2026. Many of them are focusing on farm equipment in states like Oklahoma, Wyoming, Delawareand West Virginia. Repair advocates hope a win in Iowa — the second-highest revenue state in the U.S. for agricultural products, after California — will help boost legislative and broader efforts to make phones, cars and other devices more repairable.

“This isn’t just a blue-state thing; this isn’t just a Colorado activist thing,” he says. Elizabeth ChamberlainDirector of Sustainability for the advocacy arm of Right to Repair iFixit. “It’s true. Farmers are having a hard time repairing their equipment and they want a change.”

Farmers and their tractors have long been a focal point of The right to repair movement, Constantly growing A global effort to allow product owners Repair their own devices and equipment without the manufacturer’s approval. Farmers who use tractors to plant, grow and harvest crops often need to repair their equipment as they work. Waiting for manufacturer approval to fix something, or taking the time to bring equipment to an authorized dealer, can cause delays, frustration and missed opportunities to harvest crops.

The Iowa bill specifies the agricultural equipment it covers, including tractors, trailers, combines, sprayers, balers and other equipment used to plant and harvest crops. This excludes aircraft and irrigation equipment, along with jet skis and snowmobiles.

Manufacturers will also be required to provide owners with data — documentation, such as manuals, and access to built-in operating software — on their tractors, including patches and future repairs, all without charging for it or requiring a license for Internet access. The bill also limits the use of digital locks, which are software restrictions that prevent access to features without the manufacturer’s approval.

Oh dear

The most prominent opponent of the Iowa bill is tractor maker John Deere, which has a long history Opposition to reform efforts And frustrated framers who want to take More control Of their equipment. The company is still fighting a lawsuit with the US Federal Trade Commission imposed on John Deere In January 2025 due to “illegal” repairability policies. The company has I put pressure on The Iowa bill is completely opposed to passing.

“John Deere is steadfast in supporting farmers’ ability to repair their equipment,” a John Deere representative wrote in a statement in response to a WIRED inquiry. “We support this by offering industry-leading self-repair tools and resources to both equipment owners and replacement service providers.”

John Deere points out its website Repair center It catalogs the ways in which product owners can repair their products. Chamberlain says it’s true that John Deere offers self-repair options, but they don’t always keep up with the reality of what farmers need to do for repairs today.

“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether the vast majority of repairs are possible if there’s a repair that breaks down your equipment and means losing your harvest or having to wait weeks for a dealer representative to come by,” Chamberlain says.

John Deere said it previously supported third-party and self-repair of its equipment. In 2023, John Deere and the American Farm Bureau approved a Memorandum of understanding About how the company is allowing access to repairs on its products in response to repair laws passed in states like Colorado. But advocates of reform He criticized the moveThey say the memo did little to make John Deere comply with the new regulations.