(JS Sullivan) —For years, when a Texas farmer’s tractor or combine broke down, they were stuck. Only official dealers had the special tools and computer codes needed to fix many aspects of their machines.

This month, that finally changed.

The Federal Trade Commission and John Deere made a deal that gives farmers easier access to those repair tools. For Texas farmers battling drought, this is huge. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, right now, roughly a third of the state is under active drought, with parts of Central and West Texas already in severe to extreme conditions,

Droughts don’t give anyone a break. They dry up fields, crack the soil, and force farmers to work fast with almost no margin for error. They allow only a short window to plant, water, or harvest before conditions get even worse. When a tractor or combine goes down, every hour counts.

Crops under drought ripen unevenly. One day of delay can mean smaller harvests or poorer quality cotton. A broken planter or harvester can cost an entire field. Even during harvest, the machines need careful adjustments to save what little crop is left. Any slowdown wastes precious yield and hard-earned money.

Livestock farmers face the same headaches. When pastures dry up, they depend on equipment to cut hay and haul feed. If the machines are sidelined, they have to buy expensive extra feed or sell off more cattle than they want to. Herd sizes shrink, and income takes a serious hit that can last for years.

These problems add up fast. One bad season can be handled with crop insurance. But when it happens year after year, farmers struggle to get loans, cut back on acres, or even quit altogether.

In Texas, where drought is a constant battle, equipment that can’t be fixed quickly makes everything harder.

Compounding the problem, farmers that have to work drier ground must push their equipment harder, meaning being able to work on that equipment is an absolute necessity. Mother Nature does not have a waiting room or a nine-to-five, Monday-through-Friday schedule. You get your crops managed or you don’t. And having the right to do so is important.

On the livestock side, a farmer’s animals depend solely on the farmer for their survival. And as with Murphy’s Law, when something goes wrong, it’s always during bad weather or at inconvenient times on a Saturday or Sunday night.

Farmers need to be able to fix their own equipment so they can operate rain or shine. This is why John Deere is taking the right path by helping them be the best stewards possible, setting the tone that we’re all in this together.

This new agreement with John Deere is a game changer. Farmers no longer have to wait days for a dealer. They — or a local repair shop — can fix the equipment themselves, often right away.

This isn’t the first time Deere has moved on repair access on its own. In 2023, the company signed a right-to-repair Memorandum of Understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation. In 2025, it went to the EPA directly and asked for clearer rules letting farmers safely override emissions systems during repairs — a request the agency granted this past February. This settlement builds on that record.

We all benefit when farmers succeed. They’re the ones who keep grocery shelves stocked and help keep our state and national economies strong. Helping them helps every one of us.

Between the 2023 Farm Bureau agreement, February’s EPA guidance, and now this settlement, Deere has addressed the major right-to-repair complaints farmers have raised for years. Advocates say they’ll keep watching to make sure the commitments hold, but for most Texas farmers, the practical fight for repair access looks like it’s finally been won.

However, so far, it’s just one company in the industry that has completed right-to-repair. John Deere’s counterparts in the industry should do the same — and soon.

Together, we can make sure our farmers have the tools they need to keep feeding our families and communities for generations to come.

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