The Freedom for Agricultural Repair and Maintenance Act (FARM Act) requires farm equipment manufacturers to provide farmers and independent repair shops with access to repair parts, tools, software, documentation, and equipment data needed to maintain and fix their machinery at fair and reasonable prices. The bill covers combines, tractors, sprayers, pivots, and other farm implements, and allows people to bypass digital locks on equipment specifically for repair purposes, overriding certain copyright restrictions that currently prevent this. The Federal Trade Commission will enforce the law, with penalties starting at $1,000 per day for first violations and increasing to $5,000 per day for repeat violations when manufacturers stop supplying repair materials. The bill protects manufacturers' trade secrets and does not allow modifications that would disable safety systems or violate emissions laws, and the FTC must write detailed rules within a timeline consistent with the Clean Air Act.
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