Island farmers’ group pledge support, urge passage of bill to provide them repair manuals, new technology

by Nash Alonto 

Feb. 2, 2024 

The P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture (P.E.I. FA) urged MLAs to pass a bill that will provide farmers repair manuals for farm equipment, as well new parts and software, during yesterday’s Standing Committee meeting. 

Quick access to parts and services is critical in farming crops and that the more time farmers have to wait for services, the more money will be lost from unharvested crops in the process, said P.E.I. FA President Keisha Rose Topic. 

“In my generation of farming, it’s kind of like you could sit there and the GPS isn’t working, and that seems kind of silly, (because) the tractor works and the planter works, but you’re sitting there (because) there’s no GPS signal or something,” Topic said. 

Bill 110, titled An Act to Amend the Farm Machinery Dealers and Vendors Act, requires vendors to make the repair manuals for its farm machinery available free of charge or at a fair price if printed, as well as to provide parts, software, and other items necessary for repair at a fair price. If a vendor fails to make the necessary items available, they must either replace the entire machine free of charge or refund the farmer of its purchase price. 

“But now, with equipment these days, you can’t just go because you don’t have markers on the planters anymore, you don’t have your things set to just go manually, so those things working is definitely critical, and the more time you take to get that service, that’s money lost, time lost, time is money.” 

Rustico-Emerald MLA Brad Trivers, however, expressed his concern on the bill, specifically on the part of “consequence of non-compliance”. Trivers even wondered if there are situations where suppliers are unable to do so because of problems in the supply chain. 

“I think the intent is really good. I have concerns about enforcement, but at the end of the day, we can say what we want, but no one’s enforces it,” he said. 

“If a vendor refuses and the farmer doesn’t wanna sue, maybe nothing happens, but at least it sets a precedent, in theory, at least.”  

In response, Topic understood Trivers’ concerns. 

“I guess my hope would be that it wouldn’t get to that point, but yeah, with the supply chain point…we are told we have to make adjustments to where we have it, or they’re gonna basically not supply us what part is,” Topic said.