To fix a fuse in a modern piece of farming machinery, farmer and contractor Peter Radford would have to pay a dealer-certified technician to attend his property in north-west Tasmania to diagnose the problem, and then fix it.
That fuse is worth about 15 cents, and it could be holding up a harvest worth thousands of dollars.
To rub salt in the wound, the Moriarty farmer is a qualified fitter and turner, who could pull apart and reassemble a $20,000 hydrostatic transmission in his sleep.
But, with government stirrings on the issue, a solution could be in sight.
The problem is commonly known as the "right to repair".
Similar to certain phone brands, appliances, and even cars, many agricultural manufacturers keep a firm grip on software that diagnoses issues, as well as spare parts.
In many cases, the use of an independent mechanic voids the warranty.
"Our older machines, you can fix it with a cable tie and a bit of baling twine – that's a figure of speech," Mr Radford said.
"But the newer machines that last five years, you need a laptop, the companies won't supply the software to run that laptop, to plug in, to let me know what is wrong with the machine.
"If you'd plugged your laptop in it would have said … for example … fuse number F16 is blown. Whereas we can't get that information without a technical guy coming out.
"You learn to live with it."
'Just can't get the information'
Over at Orbost, Victoria, Darren Downey has been running an engineering company for 36 years.
He said the biggest issue was getting hold of company-specific technicians – a major issue in the middle of harvest, for example, when machines worth nearly $1 million could be standing idly instead of raking in a crop.
"We're on the spot and able to help … we just can't get the information that we need to make repairs immediately," Mr Downey said.
"They'll send in their technician … Quite often they're younger people that are less experienced in diagnosis. They don't have the lateral ability to diagnose problems on the spot."
He said the manufacturing companies also tended to be "the top of the tree" in terms of what they charged for repairs.
"They're not only making the coin when they're selling or leasing the machine, they're making a damn sight more money when they've got to send out somebody to try and diagnose the problem … and charge them exorbitant rates to do that," Mr Downey said.
Government action
However, change is seemingly afoot following news earlier this year that machinery manufacturer John Deere had reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
That enabled farmers in the United States to buy software diagnostic tools, and then either take their equipment to a dealer of their choice, or fix the machinery themselves.
Federal Competition Minister Andrew Leigh on Thursday said he was "keen" to find a way forward and did not rule out heavy government intervention.
"It's an issue of consumer sovereignty," Mr Leigh said.
"We're standing firmly on the side of competition, firmly on the side of farmers.
"Certainly the [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] can oversee voluntary codes – the other alternative is to go for a mandatory approach."
Mr Leigh likened the situation to the recent battle to repair motor vehicles, which resulted in a 2021 law that made it illegal for car companies to withhold information from qualified, independent mechanics.
"In the area of passenger motor vehicles, it was ultimately necessary to come in with a government-imposed scheme. Let's see whether we're able to get something voluntary up in the first instance," he said.
When pushed for a timeline, Mr Leigh said he wanted something to happen "quickly" but added that the issues "tend to be fairly complicated".
Better business?
Mr Radford, Mr Downey and Mr Leigh admitted complications would arise when it came to balancing consumer rights with protecting intellectual property.
"[Manufacturers] don't want any Tom, Dick or Harry with access to this information to fiddle around when they haven't got any idea what they're doing," Mr Downey said.
"Some companies will actually have the information online. They've got a good reputation, and people will want to buy their machinery because they've got that immediate backup when needed.
"To my mind, that's the best way to do business for those companies."
Mr Radford argued most people "fiddling around" would likely know what they were doing.
"I understand that if that software got in the wrong hands of overseas companies … there's a fine line there between them getting that software and going, 'Oh OK, we can build this cheaper, faster'," he said.
"And you can understand if you tie it together with cable tie and it damages itself more down the track, they're going to say that was caused by you not fixing it properly in the first place.
"But people who are prepared to pull a transmission, those $20,000 hydrostats, apart to put them together … they're not going to do a dodgy, because they understand if they don't do the right job it's going to cost a lot more money down the track."
Mr Leigh called for people in the industry to reach out to his office.
"I'm very keen to hear people's views," he said.
"The goal needs to be more choice for farmers, and quicker repair at harvest time."
