This first person is the experience of Jason Jackson, a farmer near Olds, Alta. For more information about CBC’s first person stories, see Frequently asked questions.
My favorite agricultural machine is my old combine, a box IH 1688. He is 30 years old and I have accumulated innumerable hours in the barley of the cabin, barley, wheat, oatmeal, peas, granas, grenas faba and canola.
The use of older agricultural machinery helps keep the low costs in my small central farm in Alberta, but repairing this oldest machinery is becoming difficult.
That is why my poll problem is the right to repair right. I want our next government to really understand the complexity of the problems faced by Canadian farmers, and the right to repair right is an excellent example.
Right to repair is crucial to help farmers survive. But it’s not just to help farmers. Keeping our low costs can help maintain the lowest edible prices for all Canadians and protect Canada’s food sovereignty.
Growing costs on my farm
Grain and hay culture in approximately 1,300 acres near Olds, Alta., Which is about an hour by car north of Calgary. I am the fifth generation of my family to cultivate this land and, like many smaller farmers, also work outside the farm to help complement my income teaching immersion in French part -time in a nearby high school.
My old combination is very profitable to operate. It would only reach around $ 10,000 at an auction, but one would cost more than $ 1 million. That is capital that would prefer to deploy in another place.
In addition, my father and my two uncles, all in their 70 years, can continue to operate this old harvester without wasting time learning a new technology. Our old combination of trust does not have almost the capacity of a newer harvester, but each fall is carried out at eight to 10 acres per hour, helping us to obtain the harvest before the winter of the meadow.
For smaller farms such as mine, the used equipment is essential for the profitability and survival of our businesses. But these older machines are only effective if we can keep them in operation.
In 2022, one of the few electronic components of my old combine failed. It was a small metallic cube that covered two printed circuit plates that controlled the heading speed. Without it, the front of my combination would not feed the crop in the separator.
A mechanic found the problem. Then I checked the manufacturer’s website to find the piece. This quickly brought a horrible list price of $ 1,400 and some gray gray cards that simply told me that the part “was no longer available.”
Finally, I obtained a used part of one of the four machinery recyclers saved in the contacts of my phone. It was just under $ 700 and arrived without guarantee that it would still work, much less a guarantee. But when I installed it, my 1688 returned to life.
My old combine has been solved through two more crops since then.
In theory, modern technologies, such as 3D printing and CNC machining, should make repairing these older machines easier, cheaper and faster. But team dealers have generally hostile to the right -wing movement.
For newer machines with more electronic components, diagnostic software is an essential tool for repairs. However, concessionaires carefully protect access to most software. Repairs are becoming slower, more expensive and, often, they are no longer a DIY job.
John Deere is one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery. Most of their dealers in Alberta and Saskatchewan belong only two companies. For two other popular brands, A chain that carries The brand of my combine, Case IH, as well as New Holland operates no less than 43 distributors in the grasslands. Under this oligopoly, there is little need to compete offering better repair services. The lack of pieces for equipment such as my LH 1688 case will eventually force farmers like me to buy newer machines at high costs.
Action that the federal government could take
If federal politicians really understand agriculture and want to support small farms like mine, they would change the regulatory framework around repairs.
For example, they could order that if agricultural equipment manufacturers choose not to offer more parts to support machines, they would be obliged to sell a downloadable scheme so that a replacement part can be manufactured quickly by machining or 3D printing.
They could also demand that complete diagnostic software be available to offer competitive repairs.
I am not the only one who thinks in this way.
In January, the USA. The Federal Commerce Commission demanded John Deere About this same problem. Canadian politicians should also defend farmers with more force. The bill of a private member was approved during the last Parliament amended the copyright law to prevent manufacturers from avoiding repairs. However, the access of farmers to schemes or repair parts did not improve. A stronger action could reduce the costs for farmers, increase the Canadian economy by encouraging local manufacturing of repair parts and preventing more of these machines from ending in the junk batter.
During federal electoral campaigns, agriculture often seems to be an idea of the last moment, something to talk about only after a commercial drought or interruption. Some of the most pressing problems faced by farmers are more deep and more structural in nature. Farmers need a serious, nuanced and reflective policy to help us continue to feed the nation.
CBC is asking Canadians from coast to coast to coast what their main priorities are for these federal elections. We ask agriculture attendees Expo in Lethbridge what topics matter more for them.
So, this campaign, I will look for a party that I think really understands deeper structural problems facing the agricultural industry. A way in which a party can show this deepest understanding is to support the integral legislation of “right to repair”.
What is the problem that matters most in these federal elections? CBC News will publish a variety of perspectives of voters who share the personal experience that mold their choice at the polls. Read more columns in the first person related to the elections here.
