2-27 FB ICA/DOL

 Idaho Cattle Association Supports Department of Labor’s Reconsideration. On February 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the agency will be reassessing an important portion of their proposed rule related to child labor restrictions in agriculture. In November 2011, the Idaho Cattle Association submitted comments on the proposal, which intended to restrict teenagers from being able to work on farms and ranches.

Wyatt Prescott, the Idaho Cattle Association’s Executive Vice President told me that the ICA is pleased to hear that the DOL is going to reevaluate their proposal. Livestock operators were extremely concerned with the prohibitions of employment of young people. On the job training is vital to teaching young people how to appropriately care and provide for the animals raised in our industry.  Someone who shares Wyatt’s it’s point of view is Amanda Leigh Brozana Communications Director for the National Grange organization “One of the biggest concerns that we had with it was that it seems very Washington Beltway. The idea that farmers don’t have the best interest of children in their minds is ridiculous. Hired work is not a bad concept. It is a good one especially in a culture that has leaned more towards entitlements  and expectation of reward.”