Kids on the Farm

Kids on the Farm. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

I’ve mentioned before that I was not raised on a farm but spent plenty of weekends with my farm friends helping with their chores. I learned a lot and have great memories of that time. The Department of Labor has proposed new child labor regulations that many farmers and ranchers fear would make kids doing traditional, routine farm chores illegal. Missouri hog farmer Chris Chinn testified about those concerns before the House Small Business’ Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade.

CHINN: I spent lots of weekends in the summertime helping my grandparents on their family farm. I started driving a tractor when I was 12 years old. I milked the cows. I collected the eggs. I fed the livestock. I even cut weeds out of the bean field, and I also bucked hay bales. That was part of growing up on the farm and I can honestly tell you that I would not trade it for anything in the world. But nearly every one of the tasks I did as a teenager would be prohibited by the new proposed Hazardous Occupation orders. 

The proposal does have an exemption for parents, but Chinn says that does not relieve farmers’ and ranchers’ apprehensions and neither does a recent revision by the Labor Department.

CHINN: There is an overwhelming feeling in the agricultural community that the whole proposal is fundamentally flawed. While we are pleased about yesterday’s decision to re-propose the parental exemption, I think most of us in agriculture feel it would have been much better had the department withdrawn the entire rule.

Chinn spoke for many when she said the regulations would cheat many children out of valuable and cherished experiences and lessons.

CHINN: My husband, Kevin, and I are 5th generation farmers and the proud parents of two terrific kids, Rachelle, who is 14, and Connor, who is 10. Both of our children work on our family farm on a daily basis – just like Kevin and I did when we were growing up. It’s a way of life in rural America, but it’s more than that. It is a way for us to instill important values in our children: Having the right work ethic. Earning your keep. Recognizing that if you set your mind to something, you can accomplish almost anything. That effort and reward are related. And above all – to be careful when the job that you are doing entails risk.

She gives an example of how the proposed child labor regulations go too far.

CHINN: For instance, the department wants to say that no youth under the age 16 can work with any equipment that is operated “by any power source other than human hand or foot power.” That would eliminate a whole lot of equipment, including flashlights and garden hoses, which is not particularly hazardous.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.