Farmers are calling for the federal government to implement significant changes to the agricultural machinery repairs sector.
The call comes after the Productivity Commission released its right to repair report last week.
Ashley Fraser runs a 2500-hectare mixed cropping operation at Rutherglen and is the Victorian Farmers Federation grains group president.
Mr Fraser said the report fairly reflects the general sentiment and issues farmers are facing.
He said VFF was urging the government to implement the changes and get the matter sorted before the 2022 harvest.
"VFF certainly welcomes the Productivity Commission's calls to introduce repair supply obligations," he said.
"We certainly acknowledge dealerships have invested in diagnostic equipment and significant funds in training but that's not a reason to limit competition.
"Farmers have got to have access to the diagnostic equipment, we've got to have access to fault codes and access to software in real-time."
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Queensland Senator Susan McDonald said while she has sympathy for manufacturers, the changes recommended in the report would benefit Australian farmers and regional people more broadly.
"We are in the middle of a supply chain crisis where it is now not unusual to hear of products on back order for many months," she said.
"The ability for maintenance workshops to be able to manufacture their own, or source repair parts, has now never been shown to be more important."
Senator McDonald agreed that providing technicians in remote locations with access to manuals and diagnostic software would speed up equipment repairs for farmers.
"That is of course the purpose of right to repair legislation in that it does enable technicians to identify the problem and then carry out those repairs in regional and rural Australia," she said.
"This has been a hot topic in the US and while there has been push-back from manufacturers, I believe this is a sensible step forward if we are serious about building a more sustainable and practical economy into the future."
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