 |
Growing the FutureAuthor: Dan Aberhart , Terry Aberhart
CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER. The Growing the Future Podcast features conversations on innovation, entrepreneurship, and personal and professional growth in the agriculture community. Language: en Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
State of Iron: Who Owns Your Tractor?
Episode 37
Wednesday, 15 July, 2026
John Deere settled a $99 million lawsuit. Cory Doctorow says that's not the point. The point is a Canadian law passed in 2012 -- after 6,132 Canadians said no to it and 53 said yes -- that makes it illegal to fix your own equipment using anything the manufacturer did not approve. The tractors stolen from Ukraine were remotely immobilized. If that capability were turned toward Canadian farms, you would not need tanks at the border. Cory Doctorow coined enshittification -- the framework now in the Oxford English Dictionary for how platform companies progressively extract more from captive users. He is a special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This is his perspective on the John Deere settlement, where right-to-repair goes from here, and what the most organized political force in rural Canada could actually do about it. This is not Growing the Future's verdict on Deere or any equipment manufacturer. What's Inside - What enshittification means and why John Deere became Cory's clearest example of it outside tech platforms - Parts pairing: how a chip on your equipment determines who can fix it and what components can connect to it - How data generated by your tractor was being siphoned -- and why data ownership and right-to-repair are the same underlying issue - Honeybee, a Saskatchewan head-end manufacturer, cannot connect their products to Deere equipment because of digital locks, not any technical limitation - Canada's Bill C-11: the Copyright Modernization Act passed in 2012 after 6,132 Canadians opposed it and 53 supported it - Digital sovereignty: from Ukraine's remotely immobilized tractors to what happens if that switch gets turned toward Alberta - Why voting with your wallet does not work in a monopoly, and what the Grangers' fight with the railroads in 1890 has to do with where we are right now - A specific call to action: CCLA, Open Media, and the EFF -- and why farmers are one of the most effective political forces in this country when they choose to be Also discussed: Cory's new book "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI" -- Number 1 Canadian bestseller, New York Times list, and in the same week enshittification was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Resources Mentioned The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Cory Doctorow (Number 1 Canadian bestseller -- available at Indigo and McNally Robinson) Electronic Frontier Foundation -- eff.org Open Media -- openmedia.ca Canadian Civil Liberties Association -- ccla.org pluralistic.net -- Cory's daily newsletter Honeybee -- Canadian head-end manufacturer, Saskatchewan Agri GPS bridge -- referenced by audience member Jim Hale as an example of third-party ag tech workaround If you want to hear more from the GTF back catalog on what it costs when farm equipment goes down, start with: Matt Yanick's episode: Downtime: The ROI Killer. And if the data question from this conversation stays with you, Wade Barnes' Farmers Edge series looks at who owns what comes off your farm. Connect with Cory Doctorow pluralistic.net craphound.com Book: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Indigo, McNally Robinson, and all major booksellers Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.
