Colorado farming officials are lauding a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor to kill proposed rules that would have stopped kids from working on many farms and ranches across the country.
One new rule would allow kids under age 15 to work only on their parent’s farm. Another would keep children under 16 from driving most power equipment and applying pesticides.
Still, another provision would have stopped children younger than 15 from working near “sexually mature” livestock including bulls and boars or nursing cows.
Federal officials said the rules were framed to protect young workers from accidents.
But farming and ranching organizations attacked the proposed rules as unworkable and nonsensical. The “parental exemption” rule was especially targeted because it would have stopped children from working on a farm or ranch owned by a relative or neighbor.
“The rule jeopardized the family-based character of rural America and the agriculture industry,” said Colorado Farm Bureau spokesmand Shawn Martini. “Farm Bureau members across Colorado have sent a clear message to Washington: ‘Stay away from our kids’. We can all now sleep a little better knowing that our advocacy efforts have helped save our industry and our rural way of life.”
The U.S. Labor Department said in a statement that the decision to kill the proposed rules was a reaction to thousands of comments concerning the effect of the restrictions on small family-owned farms.
“…The Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders – such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of American and 4-H – to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices,” the statement said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
