Ag News for America
The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule that would have restricted children working on family farms has been officially withdrawn.
The Formal Notice of Withdrawal was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, May 29, the final step required to officially withdraw the proposal.
The Department of Labor’s announcement yesterday that they would withdraw the controversial proposed child labor rule was welcomed by the agriculture industry. The proposed rule would have severely limited young people’s involvement in agriculture.
Indiana Farm Bureau President Don Villwock says the agriculture industry spoke and the DOL listened. “Our members responded in the greatest amount of letters in the history of Indiana Farm Bureau on this issue,” he says. “That was not only true here in Indiana, but Farm Bureaus across the country rallied their members to send comments to the Department of Labor.” Villwock says, “The Department of Labor heard agriculture loud and clear.”
DOL will now work with rural stakeholders to develop an educational program to reduce accidents and promote safe agricultural working practices.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is withdrawing its controversial proposed rule dealing with children who work on farms and ranches.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, on its Facebook page, calls the move “a huge win for agriculture.”
Here is the statement found on the DOL web site:
“The Obama administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations. The Obama administration is also deeply committed to listening and responding to what Americans across the country have to say about proposed rules and regulations.
“As a result, the Department of Labor is announcing today the withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations.
“The decision to withdraw this rule – including provisions to define the ‘parental exemption’ – was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms. To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama administration.
“Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders – such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of America, and 4-H – to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices.”
H.R. 4157, Preserving America’s Family Farm Act has been introduced.
Cosponsored by Ohio’s 5th District Congressman, Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green), the bill would prohibit the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing any new legislation that would restrict farm youth from working on family-owned farms.
“The proposed youth labor regulation is a misguided idea that threatens the ability of America’s youth to work on their family’s farm,” said Latta. “Less than one percent of Ohioans earn a living on the farm, and another intrusion from Washington on the agriculture community could prevent our nation from building the next generation of farmers.”
Senators John Thune of South Dakota and Jerry Moran of Kansas have introduced a bill seeking to prevent the U.S. Labor Department from imposing rules that would limit the jobs children can do on farms.
Thune says the proposed rules are just another example of “government overreach”.
“They (the children) are taught safety lessons by the people who care most for them,” Thune says. “They (the farmers) don’t need Washington bureaucrats—in 85 pages of regulations—telling them how to best keep their children safe.
“This is yet another case of government overreach—and my legislation would prevent these unnecessary regulations and this unnecessary government intervention from going into effect.”
Thirty-six other senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.
Jody Heemstra of KWAT-Watertown, SD contributed to this story.
The American Agri-Women (AAW) organization will hold its mid-year meeting in southeast Nebraska this year.
The group will meet in Nebraska City March 29th through April 1st.
AAW president Karen Yost of Billings, Montana says the meeting will feature several speakers focused on issues in animal agriculture.
In addition, AAW members will be updating the organization’s policy positions. Yost expects three issues to dominate the discussion.
“EPA regulations—Department of Labor regulations, with the proposed rules on child labor–and animals rights issues,” she says.
Nebraska U.S. Senator Mike Johanns will also address the AAW mid-year meeting.
For more information, go to americanagriwomen.org.
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham is one of the sponsors of a bill that would prevent portions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed ‘child labor in agriculture’ regulations from going into effect.
The legislation—entitled the Preserving America’s Family Farms Act—would bar the agency from implementing any regulation that would prohibit farm youth from working on farms owned by their families.
Historically, family farms have been exempted from child labor rules, but concerns have arisen that the DOL proposal could jeopardize that exclusion for operations that are partly owned by extended family members such as grandparents, aunts or uncles.
DOL published the proposed revisions to the child labor in agriculture rule in September of last year. After a strong protest from the ag community, the agency announced on February 1st that it would take a closer look at the ‘parental exemption’ portion of the rule.
Latham says the legislation “blocks Washington’s regulation monster from yet another intrusion into the operations of our family farms.
“Everyone agrees that safety is the top priority, especially when children are involved,” Latham says, “but I’m fighting to make sure the Department of Labor takes a break from regulation without contemplation of all the ramifications to make them sensitive to the real life needs of family farms to stay in business and keep an American tradition alive and strong.”
Public comments and concerns from members of Congress with the proposed revision to the child labor in agriculture rule published on September 2, 2011 has prompted the Department of Labor (DOL) to take a closer look at a portion of the rule.
In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, February 1, officials with the Department of Labor explained their decision to re-propose the ‘parental exemption’ portion of the child labor in agriculture rule which has been in existence for 40 years.
“Corporate structures of farms and ownership of farms and how farms are operated has changed,” said a DOL official. “So consequently we are wanting to take advantage of all of these really amazing and important comments that we’ve received to ensure that what we do put out as final, is now informed by this really important comment process.”
The Department of Labor’s re-propose portion of the rule is expected to be published sometime this summer at which time public comments will be accepted. In the meantime the DOL will continue to review public comments already received on the remaining portions of the proposed rule.
The agency official, in the statement read to reporters, said that until the revised exemption is final, the DOL will revert to its earlier enforcement practice.
”The parental exemption to situations in which the parent or person standing in the place of a parent is a part owner of the farm, a partner in a partnership or an officer of a corporation that owns the farm if the ownership interest in the partnership or corporation is substantial. This approach is consistent with guidance the Wage and Hour Division has provided to the public on its website for the past several years.”
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