You Can Buy It, But You Can Never Own It
I grew up on a mostly non-working farm, meaning we used the land for our own purposes and usually didn't sell our crops. Even so, with 140 acres of land and about 80 of that in fields and meadows, my dad needed a tractor. He had an old Massey-Ferguson, and when it needed repairs, he got out his tool kit and fixed it himself. That's how he'd grown up on a working farm in Iowa.
Farming is a tough business, especially if you're running a family farm, not a conglomerate. One of the ways to ease the stress of farming is through better technology. Supporting agribusiness is BIG business, not only in money but also in size of machines manufactured. Equipment companies, like John Deere and others, have raced to design and build tractors that were competitive in the marketplace, often through improved software systems. That's a boon to farmers, right?
Wrong.
John Deere (and many other corporations that use software in their products) would like to redefine "ownership" such that even if you buy a product outright, it is never yours. This applies to more than just farm equipment. The proliferation of voiding warranties for any changes to the structure of a product is rampant, and if the product contains software, the licensing agreements are such that ownership may not be what you think it is. Everything from automobiles to smart phones to household appliances are affected.
As for farmers, what John Deere is doing is not helpful. Farming is on a razor thin line of success. One bad storm, one unexpected change in the weather, one bout of insects or disease, and the entire crop is gone, which ruins profit margins. Farmers live in a world where timing is everything. If their tractor breaks down, but they know they need to get a crop in immediately or risk losing it, they can't wait a week for a certified mechanic from John Deere to come out and fix a simple problem. They need to fix it themselves right then and there or risk bankruptcy.
What do you think? Should we own what we buy? Or should we just give in to corporate greed and lease everything forever?