BETTER protection is needed for growers who purchase new farm equipment and machinery, according to a submission made by GrainGrowers to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) discussion paper.
In the submission, GrainGrowers made five key recommendations, including increasing the monetary threshold that covers purchases, changing the warranty provisions that reflect product value and patterns of use and recognising that multiple minor failures constitute a major failure.
Other recommendations were a mandatory oral and written disclosure of product warranties at the time of purchase and an independent body to evaluate issues with agricultural machinery to drive product improvement and enhance farmer protections.
GrainGrowers chairman Brett Hosking says growers need to be reassured significant purchases are backed by warranty and support.
"Growers rely on working machinery to get the crop sown and harvested and should not be held back by a new piece of machinery," Mr Hosking said.
"Delays at sowing or harvesting time is lost revenue to our growers who are already working in extremely competitive global conditions."
As part of the submission, GrainGrowers chief executive officer David McKeon said purchasing new machinery was one of the most significant investments that a farm business could make.
"Yet purchaser rights are becoming increasingly limited as competition in the agricultural machinery and aftersales markets sectors continue to decline and subsequently weaken the purchasing power and consumer protections available to farmers," Mr McKeon said.
"As a result, farmers face substantial constraints to serviceability and in securing appropriate timely remedies in the event of a product fault or failure and may even be subject to unfair contract terms.
"These circumstances can be further exacerbated by geographic proximity between farmers and product and service providers, particularly where monopolies are held by agricultural machinery manufacturers and associated dealerships throughout Australia's grain production regions."
GrainGrowers claim that its members had raised ongoing concerns related to agricultural machinery and equipment.
The concerns raised were mainly associated with increased market share and brand control of manufacturers and retailers which reduced competition and limited options for buyers, which drove up costs to own and repair new machinery and equipment.
The last concern revolved around a lack of consumer protections, including purchase contracts and warranties, relevant to purchase, maintenance and major repair.
Mr McKeon said limited competition, proprietary lock-in and unfair contract terms in agricultural machinery and after-sales markets pose substantial constraints to serviceability and securing appropriate timely remedies in the event of a machinery fault or failure.
"The flow-on effect of these issues is undue time lost for repairs which results in substantial production losses due to delayed planting or harvest timing, or quality losses through weather intervention that would otherwise be avoided if machinery reliability was guaranteed and farmers were awarded adequate consumer protections."
