Agricultural News
December First Deadline Upon Us for Comments to the Department of Labor on Youth Work Rules on the Farm and Ranch
Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:51:44 CST
Time is running out to comment on proposed regulations from the Department of Labor that would make it illegal for youth under 16 years of age to do much of anything on a farm or ranch. Critics of the fifty plus page rule change say if approved, the regulations would hamstring family and multi-generational farmers, preventing them from teaching their kids valuable skills, and from supplying much needed labor on farms and ranches across the U.S. Deadline to make comments to the Department of Labor is close of business on December first.
We have details below of how you can make comments to the Department of Labor before the December first deadline to do so.
Oklahoma Freshman Congressman James Lankford has written an excellent op-ed on this rule and the need to respond to the Department of Labor on these changes in current law they want to make. Click here to go and read his commentary on how this is a direct attack on the family farm.
We also have audio comments pulled together in this final update before the deadline from Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau and Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. You can click on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story to hear their comments to us on the changes to current law which could radically change labor arrangements in the farm and ranch community.
One of the New Media warriors that we follow on Twitter, Jeff Fowle from California wrote of the proposal in his blog- "That means my son can't help his grandparents move cattle from field to field on horseback. It is illegal for my son to help his grandparents change water. It is illegal for my son to drive the feed truck for his grandfather in the winter." Jeff adds "It is obvious that the "brilliant" folks we have in DC have absolutely no idea what impact this will have on multi-generational and extended family farms and ranches." Click here to read the full blog posting on this subject by Fowle.
The Junior Senator from Kansas, Senator Jerry Moran, is another critic of the proposal- saying that this could change the definition of a family farm to suit the faceless beaucrats inside the Washington beltway. He adds that this proposal would essentially mean that young people could no longer work with livestock on a farm or ranch. Moran is also upset with animal rights issues being injected into this proposal.
We have gleaned some of the key language from the fifty page multi column rule that pertains to livestock- the proposal would dictate the following to farmers and ranchers- and basically would mean no young person who is not your son or daughter working on your personal farm or ranch could work in these areas:
1. Any activity with an intact (not castrated) male equine, porcine, or bovine older than six months should be prohibited.
2. Youth should be prohibited from engaging, or assisting, in animal husbandry practices that inflict pain upon the animal and/or are likely to result in unpredictable animal behavior. These activities include, but would not be limited to, branding, breeding, dehorning, vaccinating, castrating, and treating sick or injured animals. Youth should also be precluded from handling animals with known dangerous behaviors.
3. Hired youth should be prohibited from herding animals on horseback. The National Farm Medicine Center noted that past and recent data indicate a significant number of animal-related injuries occur to youth when they are involved in the activities cited in its second recommendation. It also reports that ''orseback herding requires a person to monitor and anticipate the behaviors of two (large) animals simultaneously. No youth development data exists to suggest youth younger than 16 years have the cognitive ability to handle this responsibility.''
Farmers, Ranchers and others who wish to comment on the proposal of the Department of Labor have only until the first of December to submit those comments on the federal government regulations.com website. Click here for the location on that website where you can submit a comment. The first result you see in that list is the one that refers to this rule- it's entitled "Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation: Violations-Civil Money Penalties"
Comments can be submitted online. As you can see on the website- these comments have to be submitted by December first, 2011.
Ron Hays talks with Mary Kay Thatcher and Colin Woodall about the DOL proposals.
Ron Hays talks with Mary Kay Thatcher and Colin Woodall about the DOL proposals.
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