A decision by the U.S. Department of Labor to rethink revisions to child-labor laws for agriculture was applauded this week by farm and ranching groups as well as Colorado congressman Cory Gardner.
The proposals — including one rule that would allow kids under age 15 to work only on their parents’ farm — were attacked as being unworkable in today’s agricultural market.
Worse yet, many feared the proposals would kill the family farm and hurt programs like the Future Farmers of America and 4-H because they severely limit where a child could learn to till and raise animals.
“I think a lot of people may not want to admit it now, but agriculture today is a complex business and that farm and ranch that will employ a son or daughter may not be owned by their mom and dad,” said Gardner, a Republican from Yuma. “This is not the 1950s anymore. This is not ‘Green Acres.’ “
The Labor Department issued a statement this week saying it will “re-propose” the portion of the regulation dealing with the “parental exemption.” The exemption allows children of any age to work on a farm or ranch operated by their parent or a person “standing the place of a parent.”
The department said it wanted more input after hearing criticism from both the public and members of Congress about altering the parental exemption. In fact, farm and ranching organizations across the country rallied to attack the idea of limiting kids to work only on a parent’s operation.
“We were really taken aback by the whole rule,” said Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. “For a variety of reasons, many farms and ranches are incorporated, and, as an example, my children have a vested interest in working on my own farm, but my name is not on the title.
“Does this mean if they worked there, that would be illegal?”
The new rule could have also prevented kids from working on a spread owned by a grandparent, uncle or neighbor, Fankhauser said.
“I think this rule would have conceivably put an impediment to working on a farm or ranch,” he said. “We can’t create impediments to developing a good work ethic. “
Another controversial new rule would prohibit children under 16 from driving most power equipment.
Nonagriculture workers under 18 would be banned from grain elevators, silos, livestock exchanges and auctions. Another provision would bar children younger than 15 from working near “sexually mature” livestock, including bulls and boars or nursing cows and sows.
The Labor Department said it wanted to update its child agriculture rules to help eliminate injuries and death among children on farms. Studies showed that children are significantly more likely to be killed while working in agriculture than in all other industries combined.
No one wants to see children get hurt while farming and ranching, Fankhauser said, but there most be better ways of attacking the issue.
Gardner — whose 4th Congressional District encompasses some of the most-productive farmland in the nation — said the proposals from the Labor Department are indicative of how many people, including decision-makers, are clueless about how agriculture works.
“This is a symptom of how far removed people are from agriculture these days,” Gardner said.
“Certainly, we want to protect kids, but this is not the direction we want to go.”
