You Bought the Tractor. HB 252 Says You Can Fix It.

Your tractor throws a code in the middle of hay season. You know how to fix it. Your neighbor knows how to fix it. But the software says only the dealer can, and the dealer is two weeks out.

Plain English

On November 9, 2026, Rep. Brent Money of House District 2 filed HB 252, the "Texas Agricultural Right to Repair Act." (FACT, Texas Legislature Online)

It says the company that builds your farm equipment has to let you fix it.

Under the bill, a manufacturer of electronics-enabled farm equipment sold or leased in Texas must make parts, tools, software, and documentation available to owners and independent repair shops on "fair and reasonable terms." That means the same lowest cost and best terms the manufacturer gives its own authorized dealers. (FACT, bill text)

Repair manuals and documentation have to be free, except the actual cost of printing. Diagnostic software tools have to be free, and they cannot require the manufacturer's permission or an internet connection to use. (FACT, bill text)

If a machine has an electronic security lock, the manufacturer has to make available what it takes to unlock it for repair. (FACT, bill text)

A violation would be a deceptive trade practice under the Texas DTPA. (FACT, bill text, Sec. 125.006)

If it passes, it takes effect September 1, 2027. (FACT, bill text)

Why it matters

Farm equipment is not just steel and hydraulics anymore. It runs on code.

When the code locks you out, the part in your hand does you no good. You wait on the dealer. You pay the dealer. The crop does not wait.

Texas already passed a right to repair law. In 2025, HB 2963 passed the House 129 to 1 and took effect September 1, 2026. It covers a lot of consumer electronics. (FACT, HB 2963 enrolled)

But read the exceptions. That law does not apply to "a manufacturer of farm equipment who complies with a memorandum of understanding or any other industry-recognized agreement." It also exempts "heavy equipment." (FACT, HB 2963, Sec. 121.002(b))

So the farmer got left at the gate.

The receipt

• FACT: HB 252, filed 11/09/2026 by Money. New Business and Commerce Code Chapter 125. (history, text)
• FACT: Money filed the same caption last session as HB 4362. It was referred to the House Trade, Workforce and Economic Development Committee on April 1, 2025, and it never left committee. (89R HB 4362)
• FACT: HB 2963 (89R) became law, effective September 1, 2026, with a farm equipment carve-out and attorney general only enforcement. (HB 2963)
• DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: The AP, via Scripps, reported July 9, 2026 that the FTC and five state attorneys general reached a settlement requiring Deere to make diagnostic and repair tools available to owners and independent shops for 10 years, pending a federal judge's approval. (KTNV/AP)
• DOCUMENTED INFERENCE: The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture reported April 15, 2026 on a proposed $99 million class action settlement over Deere repair claims, still awaiting court approval at that time. (UADA)
• NEEDS AUTHENTICATION: Whether either Deere settlement has received final court approval since those reports.

What Ryan says

Out here, people fix their own stuff. That is East Texas.

If you bought it, you own it. If you own it, you should be able to fix it.

A settlement with one company, in one federal courtroom, is not Texas law. It can be narrowed. It can expire. It does not cover every brand on every lot.

Last session this exact idea was sent to committee and never came out. Nobody had to vote on it. That is how good bills die in Austin. Quietly.

I want a hearing early this session. I want the manufacturers to come and say on the record why a farmer in Texas should not get the same tools their dealers get. And I want a recorded vote.

Same farmer, same tractor, opposite rule from the guy with the dealer license. That is the problem.

What this does not prove

It does not prove the bill will pass. It was filed today.

It does not prove any manufacturer broke Texas law. The bill would create a new rule. It is not a finding against anyone.

It does not prove the Deere settlements are final. The reports say approval was pending.

It does not let anyone strip out safety systems or emissions controls. The bill says so in plain words, in Sec. 125.005.

What it does prove

Texas already decided right to repair is good policy. The House voted 129 to 1.

Then it wrote farm equipment makers out of it.

HB 252 is the bill that puts the farmer back in. It has been filed before. It never got a vote.

The bottom line

The farmer feeds this state. He should not need a permission slip from a software license to fix his own equipment.

Give HB 252 a hearing. Put it to a vote. The record does not lie.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.