By Avery Wendell (@awendell98) and Mark White (markhw.com)

Today’s farm equipment has more in common with computers than plowshares. Modern tractors have can steer themselves and cost more than a few hundred thousand dollars. But the technology inside can be used to prevent farmers from repairing or altering the machines they own. Many farm equipment manufacturers, such as John Deere, build software into their equipment that prevents anyone other than “certified dealers” from making repairs. This puts farmers in tough situations.

Imagine a farmer’s tractor breaks down on a Monday. Previously, if this farmer was capable of fixing the issue, they could simply make the repairs themselves and continue on with their day. But with many modern machines and their coded restrictions, farmers have to call in a technician approved by the manufacturer, costing them several days of work and hundreds of dollars. This situation is causing consternation among America’s farmers and many are choosing to operate their equipment without repairs.

Elizabeth Warren recently announced her support in favor of a nationwide “Right-to-Repair” law that would get rid of this system; farmers would not have to spend extra time and money relying on authorized agents for repairs. Bernie Sanders also supports such a law.

Data for Progress fielded a study with YouGov Blue to get a sense of the popularity of this proposal.

We asked respondents:

Currently, some farm equipment providers require customers to use authorized

agents to make repairs, rather than allowing farmers to do repairs themselves. Would you

support or oppose a policy allowing farmers to repair equipment they own, rather than to have

an authorized agent make repairs for them?

We found strong overall support for this Right-to-Repair law: 71% favored it, while only 7% opposed, constituting a net support of 64%.