With the average age of the American farmer now over 50 years old according to the Environmental Protection Agency and the family farm on visible life support, the Obama Administration has moved to put the ailing patient out of his misery with a well aimed bullet right between the eyes.
What better way to ensure the complete and utter death of the family farm in just a few short years than to prohibit the children of farm owning parents from working the land and learning the business alongside Mom and Dad?
A proposed new rule from the Obama Administration would ban children under 18 from any farm work which involves the “storing, marketing, and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
A Labor Department press release read that “Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
In addition, under this proposed rule, independent groups like 4-H would no longer be allowed to teach and certify safety training to children replacing such locally based youth agricultural programs with a 90 hour federal government training course.
Let’s think about this for a moment.
This rule forbids just about every farm chore I can think of right down to coloring a flyer with paper and crayons to decorate the farm’s booth at the local Farmer’s Market.
So, what are farm kids supposed to do then if they can’t do much of anything around the farm until they are 18 which includes running a small business of their own on the farm to generate some income for college?
I guess they can always play video games or watch TV instead. Surely there’s a video game out there where children can simulate farm chores without ever leaving the living room couch!
A generation of farm kids raised on sloth instead of a hard work ethic will undoubtedly ensure that few family farms will make it into the next generation’s hands.
With children not able to be mentored by their parents on the farm nor by other local agricultural leaders in their community via 4-H or FFA, loss of interest in agriculture by the next generation of family farmers is virtually guaranteed.
Wait a minute!
Did you hear something?
Oh, nevermind. It’s just the cha-ching of campaign contributions from Monsanto.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Rural Kids, Parents Angry About Labor Department Rule Banning Farm Chores
That is the crux of the issue… The child would be limited to farm work on his or her own parents farm., or work for free, with limited chores for anyone else. Parents should be the final deciders.
lol You don’t have food without farms!
My husband and I own a small cattle ranch. He is in his 60’s and still going strong but has some issues with his knees that prevents some things that need to be done. We have a neighbor who has a hard working teenage boy who has helped us many times. This has helped my husband and this young man gets paid while staying out of trouble. He has helped my husband with building and repairing fences, cutting down cedar trees, etc. His parents fully support this and we provide a safe environment. This IS removing the parents as the final decider.
I used to love your blog, when it was food related. Your misguided politics have made it irritating. Please return to the topic that suits you best- real food.
“No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” — Booker T. Washington
I grew up on a ranch and our life and that of the whole surrounding community revolved around harvest. I hauled grain to the elevators. We learned to drive wheat trucks before we were 15. If harvest was delayed for whatever reason, we did not go to school and no questions were asked by the school officials. Furthermore there was no school during the country fair days in September, because most of the students were involved in 4-H. I am so glad that I grew up when I did. We got the best education.
My blood boils thinking of the ways our freedoms are being taken away in this age.
Disappointing! Deeply Disappointing.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2012/0425/Sarah-Palin-says-Obama-wants-to-ban-kids-from-farm-work.-Is-she-right
However, “the proposed regulations would not apply to children working on farms owned by their parents”, says the Labor Department press release from last August announcing publication of the proposed law revisions in the Federal Register.
I don’t buy the government spin that came out today on this proposed new rule. Just backpedaling due to the huge public outcry. Typical .. trying to pump the rule through by saying whatever it takes to get it through and then they can interpret it how they like in the final analysis.
I worked on the family farm as a kid. It made me a better person and taught me a lot about life… and death.