Our government thinks our ag kids are living "sweatshop" lives

In between calls from my daughter, whose truck broke down on her way to school, I dedicated today to getting a paper out, doing my best to ignore her SOS – I know, mean mom, but she has friends. And for some reason, the broke down truck became reason to not go to school, despite the fact that she found a tow and a ride. To be 18 again!

Which brings me to my next label…. Did you know the ag industry as a whole is abusing their kids, and putting their lives in danger daily by allowing them to be on the farm or ranch? We’re right in line with the third world countries, putting our kids through the ag version of sweatshops! The United States Department of Labor is hard at work, trying to fix this apparent oversight that has been going on for 100’s of years. They have proposed regulations that will end this horrible lax in parental judgment that ag raised kids have been unjustly thrust into at birth.

From the Department of Labor website, here is a list of some of the proposed child labor law improvements they are planning:

•Strengthening current child labor prohibitions regarding agricultural work with animals in timber operations, manure pits, storage bins and pesticide handling.

•Prohibiting hired farm workers under the age of 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment. A similar prohibition has existed as part of the nonagricultural child labor provisions for more than 50 years. A limited exemption would permit some student-learners to operate certain farm implements and tractors (when equipped with proper rollover protection structures and seat belts) under specified conditions.

•Preventing children under 18 years of age from being employed in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm-product raw materials. Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.

So – on first read it doesn’t look so bad. But … The first two – strengthening and prohibiting remains a little vague, and is open for all kinds of interpretations. But moving on to the next, my brother was fortunate to work for a neighbor for several summers, starting when he was well under 16. He was driving a tractor, cutting hay, at age 12.

Some of the basic jobs that “city folk” probably aren’t even aware of, are threatened. Have you heard of “detasseling”? They’ve been doing it in corn country for years – almost sounds kind of kinky! Probably should be banned? And it just may be! Corn growers hire crews, starting as young as 12, to come in after machines have done their detasseling job to walk down rows of corn and pull the top parts of the plant off and drop them to the ground. Ok – maybe not so kinky, but very very dangerous, I’m sure!

Lisa McNeel of Lincoln is one of five brothers and sisters who have worked together detasseling for 38 years. They expect to hire as many as 500 tassel-pullers in their area next growing season.

"I would not hesitate to say that 75-80 percent of our workforce of those 500 kids fall into the 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old age group," McNeel told Journal Star reporters.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking safety! “I’m a safety girl!” – wasn’t that a quote from Pretty Women? ;) What I am knocking, is our Government's apparent understanding of agriculture. They don’t seem to have a clue! Sorry all you kids looking for summer jobs, detassling just is too dangerous!

And you FFA and 4H kids, that college money you make off those market animals just might be over too. Thank God this is Jadi’s last year! Oh wait, she’s over 18 now….child labor laws bedamned, she’s feeding from now on!

Other changes include:

- Teenagers would be prohibited from handling non-castrated livestock older than six months, sows with suckling pigs, or cows with a newborn calf.

- Teenagers would not be allowed to be around livestock in situations where the animals' behavior might be erratic or unpredictable like during shots, dehorning, branding, or breeding.

- They will no longer be allowed to catch chickens to take to market.

- They will no longer be allowed to herd animals either on horseback or on equipment like an ATV.

- Teenagers would never be allowed to work at heights above six feet from the floor, including on a ladder.

And I’m just skimming the surface here…the proposed changes include 100 pages!

So, this is the way it looks. “Honey, I’m just trying to protect you. No, you can not go to the barn, there’s a cow in there, she might hurt you. No, you can’t mow the lawn, you might get hurt. No dear, I love you so much, and the government told me it would not be safe for you to ride your horse on that cattle drive, so you can’t go. No, you can’t go feed! There’s bulls in the pasture! And unpredictable cows. No, honey, you won’t be showing your steer at the fair this year. Mommy is going to show it for you. Won’t that be fun? You can watch from the sidelines and take pictures. No, honey, stop asking…your making me crazy…go sit on the couch and play your video games! I’ll go help your dad cut hay. Maybe you can learn how to cook, the government hasn’t caught on to how dangerous it is to have a 14-yr-old in the kitchen yet.”

On top of the pages of changes, the government hypocracy is rampant. At the beginning of 2011 in Washington, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack addressed the National FFA officers, saying, “I would like for you to work with your fellow students and the adult leadership of the organization to develop a series of recommendations around the upcoming Farm Bill that will encourage more young people to pursue careers in farming. Over the next few years we will need 100,000 new farmers and I am looking to you for ideas, guidance and suggestions to help make that happen. If you do this in a serious thoughtful manner (which I know you will do) I will make myself and all of my Under Secretaries available to hear this report. So that we can utilize this information to guide our input to Congress, I would like to have your report to me one year from today.”

And in October in Ankeny, IA, Vilsack shared his concern about the average age of farmers in a Farm Bill discussion, “The average American farmer is 57 years of age. Nearly 30 percent of American farmers are over the age of 65, which is almost double the number of folks in the workforce over 65. Now, some of these folks want to slow down or retire; but they have no one to take over the farming operation. That challenges us to find new ways, through tax policy, through regulations, through our credit programs or other programs, to help transition farms to the next generation. We’ll need a community effort to recruit, train, and support this new generation of farmers and ranchers; and we need to make sure that it’s for operations of all sizes.”

Perhaps we can just move some of these kids right off the couch and onto the farm, when the government deems them “old” enough, and I’m sure all that couch potatoe training will prepare them for a safe and swift career move into agriculture. Once again, our government is obviously a much better parent than I will ever be! "I heard you...your truck is broke...stick your thumb out and hitch hike to school!"