Is this the death of the family farm?

[finehoe]

So what happens when you and your family are a couple of farms down trying to help out the neighbors when Mr. Inspector shows up while your 14 yr old is driving a tractor?

The same thing that happens you and your family are a couple of houses down trying to help out the neighbors when Mr. Inspector shows up while your 14 yr old is pushing a lawn mower:  NOTHING.

Let's see how simple I can make this. 

If you have people on payroll, and some of them are under 18 and not your family, this regulation may cause you to change some of your business practices.  Otherwise, you do not have to worry about the government preventing your minor children from doing their chores. 

[BridgeTroll]

WooHoo!  That is great news!

[fsquid]

so this only applies to people on your payroll?

[BridgeTroll]

Apparently.  Kids like me... when I was young... many of my first jobs were on farms.  Picking apples... helping bale hay, picking potatos left by the combine etc...  I was doing this stuff for spending money long before age 16.  We got paid less than minimum wage... but didnt care as it was a way to make some cash and have some fun.

Thank god washington is putting a stop to it...

http://www.farms.com/news/Should_Farm_Kids-46892.aspx

Should Farm Kids Be Allowed To Drive A Tractor? Some Say It's Too Dangerous

For a lot of farm kids, "learning to drive" means learning to drive a tractor before ever driving a car.

Tractors are a big part of family farm life, which is one reason advocacy groups and dozens of congressional representatives have heavily criticized a U.S. Department of Labor proposal that would bar children under age 16 from doing many dangerous farm jobs, such as driving a tractor and handling pesticides. The outcry has been so strong that on Monday, the agency backed away from the Nov. 1 deadline it had set for public comment and extended it another month.

But while traditional family farmers say the change threatens the future of agriculture, child and labor advocates say the plans are a much-needed update to protect vulnerable young workers.

The changes do include a legal exemption for farm families that would allow children to work on the farms owned by their parents. But it would still affect many small farmers who hire kids in the summer or who have extended family members work on their land.

At the 20-acre farm of Julie and Scott Wilber near Boone, Iowa, for example, Drew, 14, and Jade, 12, could still do any work their parents ask of them under the changes. But the Wilber's employee, MacKenzie Lewis, 15, would be prohibited from driving the four-wheelers used on many farms, mowing grass or working around animals.

The Wilbers say finding part-time seasonal workers is difficult; they can't spend a lot on wages and need sporadic help for hard, manual labor.

"It's easier to hire kids or teachers, because people who have regular full-time jobs aren't going to quit their job to work in the summer," Julie Wilber says.

Ag advocacy groups are also outraged about the changes. They say the government doesn't understand how agriculture gets done today.

Most farms are now organized under a corporation that includes multiple members of an extended family â€" uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, grandparents â€" but having that status would mean many families that count on their kids wouldn't be exempt, says Jordan Dux, national affairs coordinator with the Nebraska Farm Bureau.

"So kids of individuals who are involved in a family corporation would no longer be able to help mom and dad on the ranch, on the farm. They wouldn't be able to work with animals. They wouldn't be able to work on hay wagons stacking bales six feet tall," he said. "There are lots of ... typical farm practices, that ... would be outlawed by the Department of Labor."

The plan's critics also say the regulations would hinder the recruitment of the next generation of farmers and ranchers, calling it a direct hit on youth groups like 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Farm work is one of the most dangerous occupations and it frequently affects the 1.26 million children under the age 20 who live on farms in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an average of 104 children die each year as a result of a farm-related injury and more than 22,000 kids are injured.

Child safety advocates and others applauded the Labor Department's announcement and said the changes are long overdue. Others, like Barry Estabrook, a food journalist who has done extensive reporting on farm labor, particularly in Florida tomato fields, says given the extent of injuries, the proposal was "timid at best."

Children who work in agriculture have little protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act, unlike their counterparts who work in other occupations, Estabrook said. Young people who work on farms "have suffered under a federally mandated double standard," Estabrook writes on his "Politics of the Plate" blog.

"I don't see it as any more ludicrous to envision a child driving a bulldozer or a back hoe on a construction site than driving a back hoe in the farm fields," he said in an interview. "What is the fundamental difference?"

In a separate update, the Labor Department also proposed preventing anyone under age 18 from working at stockyards, livestock auctions, commercial feed lots or grain elevators â€" sites of several high-profile deaths. Six of the 26 people who suffocated in grain elevator deaths last year were under the age of 16, according to a Purdue University study.

Public Citizen, a congressional watchdog, supports the increased protections. Justin Feldman, a worker health and safety advocate with the group, points to the case of two 17-year-old boys in Oklahoma who were caught in a grain auger in an accident last summer.

"It took the fire department an hour to cut through the grain auger and each one lost a leg. They were athletes," Feldman says. "They were going into their senior year in high school. And now their lives have been very much changed."

[JeffreyS]

The law may need to be expanded to cover more family. But come on rightys this faux outrage is laughable child labor laws are important we are not just drones born to work.

[finehoe]

Thank god washington is putting a stop to it...

The conservative mantra.  If you repeat a lie over and over, it must be true.

[BridgeTroll]

lol... perhaps the goal is to increase the number of corporate farms... and increase the number hired hands.  You know... taxable income...

[bill]

Yeah more regulations. That will help encourage hiring.

[Ocklawaha]

Ah what the hell? Kid's from Hooker might have to consider a different line of work... "Why don'tcha come up and see me sometime..."

Yeah more regulations. That will help encourage hiring.

+1

MacKenzie Lewis, 15, would be prohibited from driving the four-wheelers used on many farms, mowing grass... or working around animals.

This would cut deeper then just the family farms, decades of young boys making spending money off of the family lawn mower would be eliminated. Four-wheelers? Let's see, kid's at the family marina, kid's on hunting or camping trips.

It would also be a nearly unenforceable regulation... Trust me, hundreds of family farmer's in exotic places like Alpha and Omega, Oklahoma, will be hard to police.

Not working around animals? REALLY? Let's see do we count Kittens? Dogs? Chickens? Sheep? Cattle? Do we divide the dogs up by breed? Okay, everyone with a Pit Bull is out, and you Shepherd and Rottweiler fans can kiss the pooch good bye... Four H and FFA, will be a thing of the past. The thousands of dollars bid by meat packer's and breeders for 4-H project animals would be lost, so forget the earned scholarship to Oklahoma State boys and girls.


More then an image, it's a way of life!

[Ocklawaha]

Thank god washington is putting a stop to it...

The conservative mantra.  If you repeat a lie over and over, it must be true.

Conservative? You realize of course that you are quoting National Socialism, to wit, Joseph Goebbels.

[Gators312]

The law may need to be expanded to cover more family. But come on rightys this faux outrage is laughable child labor laws are important we are not just drones born to work.

I doubt many family farms are stocked with legions of drones bred strictly for labor.....

[JeffreyS]

The law may need to be expanded to cover more family. But come on rightys this faux outrage is laughable child labor laws are important we are not just drones born to work.

I doubt many family farms are stocked with legions of drones bred strictly for labor.....

Correct which is why the law isn't aimed at the family farm. It is just a feeble attempt at propaganda that it will effect our Norman Rockwell vision of the kids helping the family out. Come on guys you are just making yourselves look gullible trying to buy into this. I know that seems condisending but well you apparently need some of that. Child labor laws are important many times in history parents have abused child labor.

[Dog Walker]

Tempest, meet Teapar...uh...pot.

[Fallen Buckeye]

There is a real fundamental disconnect between the Obama administration and rural Americans. My family never had the money to buy land growing up, but my brothers and I all helped on farm of a close family friend. Under these regulations, my brothers and I would have missed on a ton of formational experiences. It's not just about putting kids to work to make money. It's how a way of life is passed on from one generation to the next. I just wonder why the government feels the need to get involved. Do you mean to tell me that these families are less concerned with their children's safety than Uncle Sam? That's BS.

[Ocklawaha]

The law may need to be expanded to cover more family. But come on rightys this faux outrage is laughable child labor laws are important we are not just drones born to work.

I doubt many family farms are stocked with legions of drones bred strictly for labor.....

Correct which is why the law isn't aimed at the family farm. It is just a feeble attempt at propaganda that it will effect our Norman Rockwell vision of the kids helping the family out. Come on guys you are just making yourselves look gullible trying to buy into this. I know that seems condisending but well you apparently need some of that. Child labor laws are important many times in history parents have abused child labor.

Wouldn't be the first stupid law around here:

FLORIDA STATUTES:

It is illegal for a doctor to ask a patient whether they own a gun.

The state constitution allows for freedom of speech, a trial by jury, and pregnant pigs to not be confined in cages.
Full text of the law.

One may not commit any “unnatural acts” with another person.
Full text of the law.

Unmarried couples may not commit “lewd acts” and live together in the same residence.
Full text of the law.

Corrupting the public morals is defined as a nuisance, and is declared a misdemeanor offense.
Full text of the law.

Doors of all public buildings must open outwards.
Why does this law exist?
Full text of the law.

It is illegal to sell your children.
Full text of the law.

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.

If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.

It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.

Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.

Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.

It is illegal to skateboard without a license.

When having sex, only the missionary position is legal.

You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.

It is considered an offense to shower naked.

You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.

Oral sex is illegal.(THANK GOD LADIES, IT'S NOT IN COLOMBIA!)

You may not kiss your wife’s breasts.