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More Work Needs to be Done on Ag Child Labor Rules
It doesn’t seem possible, but the Obama administration has proposed yet another irresponsible regulation on agriculture that defies common sense. Again, the executive branch is showing a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.
The latest regulations from the Department of Labor would put stringent restrictions on young people working on family farms. The department took it upon itself, without instruction from Congress, to come out with these new regulations that will seriously jeopardize 4-H and FFA programs, and keep a young person from working for a family corporation (many family farms are incorporated for business purposes) or even for a neighbor who needs help.
For example, under these proposed regulations a child under 16 couldn’t lead around a 6 month-old bull calf, herd animals on horseback, or climb a ladder over 6 feet tall. Anybody who has been involved in a farming operation knows that these don’t meet the common-sense test.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have defended the opportunity for kids to work on family farms. Generations of Iowans have cut their teeth working on the farm, whether for their own family, or a neighbor’s farm. Young people are a valuable part of farming operations.
In a positive development, last week the Labor Department announced it would be re-proposing a portion of its agriculture child labor regulations.
It’s good the Labor Department is rethinking the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families. But, it would be best for the department to scrap the whole thing and allow farm families to operate in a manner consistent with the rural living that allows children to learn and grow as part of a rural community.
February 6, 2012
It doesn’t seem possible, but the Obama administration has proposed yet another irresponsible regulation on agriculture that defies common sense. Again, the executive branch is showing a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.
The latest regulations from the Department of Labor would put stringent restrictions on young people working on family farms. The department took it upon itself, without instruction from Congress, to come out with these new regulations that will seriously jeopardize 4-H and FFA programs, and keep a young person from working for a family corporation (many family farms are incorporated for business purposes) or even for a neighbor who needs help.
For example, under these proposed regulations a child under 16 couldn’t lead around a 6 month-old bull calf, herd animals on horseback, or climb a ladder over 6 feet tall. Anybody who has been involved in a farming operation knows that these don’t meet the common-sense test.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have defended the opportunity for kids to work on family farms. Generations of Iowans have cut their teeth working on the farm, whether for their own family, or a neighbor’s farm. Young people are a valuable part of farming operations.
In a positive development, last week the Labor Department announced it would be re-proposing a portion of its agriculture child labor regulations.
It’s good the Labor Department is rethinking the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families. But, it would be best for the department to scrap the whole thing and allow farm families to operate in a manner consistent with the rural living that allows children to learn and grow as part of a rural community.
February 6, 2012