The changes to child labor laws that have been proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor have stirred up a hornet’s nest in farm country.
The rules, if enacted, would prohibit youth from working on a farm or ranch that is not directly owned by their parents.
Among those speaking out against the proposal is Shannon Latham, vice president of Latham Seeds, a regional seed company based in Alexander, Iowa.
Latham says it could—conceivably—prevent her own pre-teen children from working in their family-owned business.
“Although we are a family-owned business, it’s a family-owned business between husband, wife and brother—in my case, brother-in-law,” Latham says, “and in this specific instance, the proposed changes say that kids under 16 would be prohibited from working in cultivation or harvesting of crops. A lot of what we do in the summer is pull weeds from our plots and take care of research acres—our kids wouldn’t be able to do that.
“Some people have said, ‘What? You’re part of a family farm.’ Well, our family farm is structured as part our business as well.”
But Latham says her concern goes beyond her own situation. She says farm jobs such as picking rock, hauling bales and detasseling are important to many young people in rural areas—as well as the farmers and agribusiness owners who employ them.
“In rural areas, where we live, there is a limited workforce pool. So it provides jobs for kids, but it’s also a win-win because farmers need that extra help as well,” Latham says, “and lots of times that means a neighbor—it doesn’t necessarily mean your own son or daughter.”
Latham encourages farm families to look at the proposed child labor rule changes and submit a comment to the Department of Labor. The comment deadline is December 1st.
“Talking with people out in the country, they say ‘we’re a family farm—we’re going to be exempt’. My caution to those people is you better make sure how you view your family farm, and how the U.S. government defines your family farm, are one and the same,” says Latham, “because family farms as we know them could be legally structured entities that define them as a business in the eyes of government.”
AUDIO: Shannon Latham (7:53 MP3)
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