Tag Archives: farm equipment

Georgia’s Right to Repair Law Gives Farmers More Control Over Equipment Ahead of Harvest

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Albany, GA |

For Georgia farmers, equipment downtime is both frustrating and expensive — which is why new Right to Repair legislation is a welcome development with harvest season just around the corner. Under the new law, John Deere, which holds more than half of the large tractor market, will grant independent mechanics access to electronic repair tools and diagnostic software. It’s a necessary step given just how sophisticated modern farm equipment has become.

“The MOU simply allows independent mechanics or a farmer to have access to the computer and understand what the codes mean so that we can repair our own equipment,” said Clay Pirkle, President of Georgia State Inspection Services. “The problem for farmers is it can be something as simple as a two-dollar sensor. But unless you have the diagnostic ability to identify what the problem is, you can’t repair it. And most of the problems we see on the equipment are somewhat minor.”

MORE OPTIONS MEAN LOWER COSTS AND FASTER FIXES

Having more people qualified to work on their equipment will benefit Georgia farmers on two fronts: more competitive repair rates and, equally important, fewer delays.

“When you increase the universe of people that can repair your equipment, two things happen. One, it will happen cheaper — prices to the consumer always fall. And just as important as being competitively priced is the time factor,” Pirkle said.

TIMING COULDN’T BE BETTER

The legislation comes at a critical moment for growers who are about to push their tractors to the limit during harvest — the narrowest, highest-stakes window of the entire farming year.

“As farmers, we have a perishable product and a narrow window to get the crop out. I cannot afford a two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar piece of equipment to sit during the biggest part of the year that I need it,” Pirkle said. “When I have this window to harvest a perishable crop — the most important time of the entire year — I cannot have that equipment down.”

RELIEF ON ONE FRONT IN A TOUGH YEAR

The stakes are even higher considering how much money Georgia producers have invested in their crops — and how hard rising input costs have squeezed margins throughout 2026.

“The price for fertilizer, chemicals, diesel — everything we purchase has gone up. And everything we sell has gone down. Margins are squeezed,” Pirkle said. “We could use relief on many fronts. But this is a good start.”

For Georgia’s farmers, the Right to Repair legislation won’t solve every problem facing the industry — but heading into harvest season, having more control over their own equipment is a step in the right direction.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Peanut Farmers Face 2025 Challenges: Weather, Yields & Market Outlook

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Tifton, GA |

With Georgia growing six times more peanuts that any other state in the country, keeping those farmers up to date on the latest research, technology and equipment is vital for the health of the industry as a whole. Events like the Georgia Peanut Farm Show help accomplish this by gathering all those involved under one roof.

“Number one, it’s very good information. It’s a chance for farmers to get together and rub elbows with their neighbors and friends that they may not have seen from people come from all over the state and the Southeast, but you also get to see the latest and greatest in machinery, technology, chemicals, and peanut production practices. We’ve got Scott Monfort is going to lead our production session, and we’ve got a seed session. It helps to just give us an opportunity,” says Joe Boddiford, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

Even though the number of acres dedicated to peanuts in Georgia remain high, yields did take a major hit in 2024, thanks in large part to the unpredictable climate.

“Weather for the last two years have taken some yield from us. This past year has taken more than it has in a long time. You know, we lost some top end irrigated yields in ’23 of about a thousand pounds. This year, fifteen hundred pounds or better and across the state when you look at the state average, we didn’t move that much in ’23. We were at forty-one hundred and something. This year, we dropped down to thirty-eight fifty, and that’s the lowest we’ve been in twenty years,” says Scott Monfort, Extension Peanut Agronomist.

With that in mind, growers must now walk a fine line in 2025 between cutting costs and maximizing production.

“We know you need to make change. We know you need kind of cut back if you can, but the biggest thing is we know you need to make money. That’s the highest yields possible. And what we’re here trying to get them to understand is that it’s easy to say I’m going to cut this out, this out and this out. And that’s going to save me money, but in retrospect, every time you cut something, it’s going to affect your yield or potentially affect your control of a pest that affects your yield,” says Monfort.

The silver lining created by that drop in numbers is a potential for the prices to remain steady through these uncertain times.

“We did get lucky by not producing as much in the state of Georgia. So, that kind of helped us potentially. I’m not going to say it is, but it potentially did. If we would have yielded forty-one, forty-two hundred pounds, we know where we would be this year. It would be starting way low. I’m hoping that’s not going to be the case this year and we can at least keep that price up to where we can at least pay some returns back on our investment,” says Monfort.

As for advice to growers preparing for the new year, Monfort suggests working with your local county extension and sticking with the basics.

“The main thing is don’t forget your base programs. Make sure fertility, fungicides, pest management, lyme, calcium, the things you need to do, let’s make sure we do them and we’ll be okay,” says Monfort.

By: Damon Jones