February 5, 2025 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new guidance this week that makes it clear that manufacturers cannot use the Clean Air Act to prevent farmers from fixing their own equipment.

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

In 2023, then-President Joe Biden’s EPA sent a letter to the National Farmers Union (NFU) saying that the agency’s 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, NFU president Rob Larew called it “an encouraging message to farm country.”

Sarah Carden, research and policy director at Farm Action, 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.

“But they haven’t addressed the fact that farmers don’t have the tools they need to make these repairs,” she said. As a next step, Farm Action will push the agency to require that manufacturers provide those tools.

The NFU has a similar position. “This guidance does not guarantee a farmer’s right to repair,” Larew said. “We 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.”

Biden’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit 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.

John Deere has said the lawsuit ignores its commitment to customer self-repair and consistent progress and innovation related to the issue. “The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,” the company said in a statement.

So far, that case is proceeding. At the end of January, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said the Trump administration’s position is that “farmers should be able to repair their own equipment.”

“The 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,” Carden said. “John Deere’s monopoly is ultimately the biggest issue.” (Link to this post.)

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