Just another government agency completely out of touch with reality.  I grew up with 2 brothers on the farm and we all were fine, in fact I look back now and realize how lucky we were compared to many of our city friends.

David
The Beltway around Washington, D.C. sometimes is several thousand miles wide, or at least too wide for the regulation writers to venture across.  I sometimes tell folks that growing up on the farm can result in casualties, but when you learn how to survive on a farm, you can survive on a battlefield or a big city streetcorner.
~Stu

I really enjoyed reading your perspective on this, however I have to disagree for the most part. 

Today’s farm is nothing like when I was a boy.  The machinery is bigger and more dangerous than ever before.  We wouldn’t let 8 year olds on a factory floor so why would we let them on a modern farm lot - noxious chemicals, heavy machinery, sharp and heavy tools, manure lagoons etc.  Even with supervision it is extremely dangerous and I don’t understand why the farm lobby won’t recognize this and protect our kids.  How can anyone say with a straight face that kids working on modern industrial farms shouldn’t be legally protected the same as any other place of employment?  I think on issues like this the farm lobby embarrases itself by being so out of touch with mainstream society.

John
I am not sure the farm lobby has weighed in on this one yet, but it is getting quite a bit of conversation in the countryside, and the bulk of the opposition will likely come from individual farmers.  Certainly, farm organizations will add their comments, and I am hoping there is a happy medium somewhere.  keeping a 15 year old away from a lawn mower or a 4-H show ring is a bit too far.

~Stu

The law as presently is written an enforced is perfect.  My family (brothers, sisters, nices,nephews,my kids, have all grown up on our ranch.  No major accidents and a bunch of people with work ethic and common sense. Rules will not make the workplace safer.  Common sense and communication will.

Bob:
You voice the opinion of a lot of folks.  Thanks for the viewpoint from the ranch.
~Stu

Dont you people have anything better to do than worry about farm kids? I was born and raised on a farm and from the time I could walk I was around cattle and farm machinery. By the way I’m 54 now and still have all my body parts. The person that thinks that machinery is more dangerous today than it was back then is way off. The point is that if these kids that want to farm they should have the right to even if they are 13 or 14 years old. There is nothing cooler than a young person riding on the tractor with his dad and the proud look on his face when he gets to drive. That is some thing that child will never forget. I had a nephew from the city here this summer for a while and all he talked about was farming and riding in the tractor. Belive me he did not want to go home. How can you people take that away from a little person.

By the way, “their city cousins” are useless.  We’ve had alot of ‘em
through here…

I started off as a city kid, so was retarded and didn’t start driving a
tractor until about the age of 12 or 13…

My younger brother broke his arm while hand-cranking an Allis-Chalmers when
it “kicked back” on him…

We both shoulda been somehow killed or maimed many times, more than a
half-century ago, but guess we weren’t.

Suppose we both were somehow deprived or exploited - not sure which…

Got paid $5 / day - which was enough for a carton (500) of .22 shells.

A year ago when I’ve worked in a tobacco company I saw some minors also working too and I asked how old are they some of them are aged 9-17 and I was shocked even if you look on their face they look like an adult already.

Not to beat this subject to death, but this was just sent to me and seems relevant to this discussion: http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

I’m 16 and a Missouri farm girl. I’m active in FFA & anything ag I can get my hands on. My community is all farming, I know kids that are 8 & 9 working on the farm, & nothing had ever happened to them. I know many people don’t understand what farming is all about, & how are they suppose to if they enforce this law? I know many kids who started working on farms at young ages. Their parents taught them how to get the job done but also how to do it SAFELY! Enforcing this law is a bunch of rubbish & pretty much kills out the young generations that want to learn… As a teenager who actually KNOWS what’s going on out there on the farms I HIGHLY disagree with the rubbish… LET US LEARN!!!

Samantha:
Well said.  You represent your generation well, and we should remember your name for being a future spokesperson for agriculture.
~Stu

I have been raised on a farm my entire life and driving tractors since I was big enough to see over the steering wheel. I am now 34 years old and work full-time on a farm. I have a 10 year old daughter who goes to work with me as she enjoys the farm. I being a responsible parent, don’t allow her to do anything that will cause her harm. I believe children on a farm need to be looked after by adults not by the government. Passing this as law will discourage younger generations from learning life skills on the farm and agriculture will suffer in the long run. Farming cannot be taught in a college or school setting, it is a learning experience taught by watching and doing over many, many years. I agree that the machinery is big and can be dangerous, but that’s why we as parents and farmers teach the future farmers how to operate the machinery safely. It is our responsibilty as their teacher to regulate safety not the government.

Jaimie
Sounds like you were raised on the same farm I was.  But today’s equipment is safer, because I am probably lucky to have not been seriously maimed or killed with some of the stunts I pulled as a 10 year old.
~Stu

It saddens me that we have people who inhabit this earth and know not a thing about where their food comes from.  There are approximatley 2.2 million farms in the United States.  They largely plant, grow, raise, and harvest the food for our country and other countries.  The top 10 crops and livestock raised in America are…
1. Corn
2. Cattle meat
3. Cow’s milk, whole, fresh
4. Chicken meat
5. Soybeans
6. Pig meat
7. Wheat
8. Cotton lint
9. Hen eggs
10.Turkey meat
(According to a 1997 poll)

I realize a large majority of these operations are large scale corporations, however hundreds of thousands are not.  They are smaller family farms and ranches, like the kind I was raised on.  We raised our own cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs for eating and selling.  I showed my livestock in the 4-H and FFA projects.  In my whole life I can never remember being happier than when I was raising those animals and learning about life.  I will not lie and say that I was never hurt…I rode horses and hung out around cattle.  Yes I was occassionally kicked or bucked off onto my hind end, but my parents were always there to watch us….truely the injuries sustained from a farm or ranch accident often pale in comparison to a skateboarding or bicycle accident (which alot of kids do all of the time!)  It was not forced upon me, my brother chose not to do it and he was involved with other activities, but I wanted to do it.  I got to learn how to work hands on and become a responsible person.  I graduated high school and was offered a scholarship for college because of my accomplishments in the Ag. Industry.  I owe so much to this way of life, and now the government (who I actually work for in an Ag.related career) threatens to take away that experience from my child.  As a parent I would in no way purposely place my child in danger while “working” at his grandparents small ranch.  This is a choice that I as a parent should be able to make not the Government.  Please no more restrictions from the governement on this matter.

Roxanne:
Well said, and certainly from the heart.
~Stu

I am a 16 year old girl from Northeast Iowa. I grew up on a farm and I love it. I think kids that grow up on a farm are more aware of their surroundings than anyone else. We learn from a young age and we respect it. We learn many life lessons and we learn what hard work is. I personally think that kids that grew up on a farm and are sometimes the worst kids at school come home and are the calmest kids I know. I think instead of banning kids from farms, why don’t we make it required to take an agriculture education class for everyone, because the kids from the town and city are usually the stupid ones who get in trouble. If there was a required class it’d cut down accidents dramatically. I feel more calm at home than in town. I love it here and I want other kids who don’t have the same oppportunities as I do to experience them because it builds character and teaches many many things. I love agriculture and I wouldn’t do anything to change it. thanks.

Thanks, Kelli.
The farm kids are willing to stand up for their heritage, which is a great tribute to Mom and Dad.
~Stu

I feel strongly about this. Unfortunately I didn’t grow up on a farm, but my parents did. It was my dream to, and finally got the chance at age 14. My parents had a small printing business. There were six of us kids and we all worked in the shop at some point. I started working around age 5. As I got older I worked with machines kept at several hundred degrees for cooking rubber materials and matrix.

One of my jobs was dropping slugs of led type into a pot of melted led over 1000 degrees. I ran a printing press, table saw, drill, folding and colating machines (around age 10). My brothers and sisters did too. At age 8 Dad tought me how to run a backhoe and paid me to clean the tracks of the bulldozer. None of us were ever injured because our parents showed us the proper way to use things and dangers of misusing them.

However, I was seriously injured on a bicycle; broken bones and several weeks recovery including reconstructive surgery. My brother broke his neck falling off the roof of his clubhouse (but fully recovered), a sister lost her teeth after wrecking her bike. I fell over our dog and cracked my head open, requiring stitches and getting a concussion.

In short; KIDS GET HURT. If they don’t, they have had a very dull life. Farm parents are the most responsible there are because they know the dangers. The kids are about the brightest you will ever meet because not only do they have their “book learnin’”, they also have COMMON SENSE. They are strong, independent, quick thinking, rational, honest (usually) and most of all are willing to help others with whatever they need.

If everyone in this country raised their children with the responsibilities and self respect farm children have, it would solve 99.99% of this country’s problems. Children need to learn responsibility and a strong work ethic at a young age. I challenge anyone to prove that today’s delinquents, graduating without being able to read their diplomas, are better, brighter, more reliable and mature for their age, than kids raised in the early 1900’s when work was not considered something shameful.

Kids also do not need to be wrapped in protective shipping bubbles, shielded from anything bad or uncomfortable. They learn from experience, they gain strength working and playing. Another perk being raised a farm kid. They are more sure of themselves, emotionally stronger and don’t suffer so much from bullying. They know who they are, where they belong and what importance they are to their family and the animals that depend on them. Whereas, city kids are not allowed to work, have no belief system, all they do is kill time, play vidiot games, get arrested or have babies, join gangs. ALL kids should be working by age 12 in some small way; after school or on weekends, even if it’s volunteer.

Jackie:
Have you considered a campaign for President?
~Stu

I grew up on a farm in a farm town, in which most of the kids that I went to school with either also lived on a farm or lived next to one. Without us kids (I have a brother and 2 sisters) my parents wouldn’t of been able to run the family farm and work their full time jobs (they have recently found out how hard it is do to the farm work and their 9 to 5 jobs, since we all have grown up and moved out).

Farm kids keep the farm running, yes it is dangerous but that’s what rules from the parents come from. We were never allowed to do something, like driving a tractor (I’ve been driving a tractor since well before the age of 16), without many hours of practice with our parents sitting right next to us on the tractor. I’ve been driving trucks and trailers since I was old enough to reach the pedals (about 9 or 10) but my parents didn’t one day just throw in the truck in say have at it. They taught us how to do it properly and safely. We were never forced to do something that we weren’t comfortable doing or that we didn’t want to do. I always wanted to learn new things on the farm.

I believe that farm kids learn so many things that non-farm kids don’t learn; a few of them being respect, common sense, responsibility, a good work ethic and how to care for something other than selves. If you take away farm kids then you’ll have worse youth than what we are currently faced with, there will be more glued to the television, overweight, disrespectful, irresponsible kids out there.

It’s not up to the government to be able to decide what is deemed safe or unsafe for my children, it is up to me and my husband to make that decision, because no loving parent would ever purposely but their child in danger. Growing up on a farm is the best experience I ever had (other than the whole getting up at 5:30am to feed cattle thing) and being away from the farm only makes me want to go back and have a family farm to raise my kids on (guess I will just have to break the laws if it comes down to it).

Without family farms, and therefore farm kids, the United States of America would cease to exist.

Lyndsey:
My hat is off to you.
~Stu

Sorry if I climbed to high on my soapbox. My granddaughter sometimes joins me, or tries to stop me. I loved reading the entries by the younger readers. These kids are so much more aware of the realities of life. The circle of life and death. Kids learn to not only listen to their elders but they also respect and learn from them. Government has no right to tell American parents how to raise their children. If parents are not responsible enough to make those decisions, the kids should be put in safer environments. Check out the link by Frank. The pictures are awesome!

My family of 10 grew-up on a farm in Michigan. By comparison kids that grew-up in town nearby were a bunch of spoiled, self absorbed pussies. In high school it always got under my skin the praise and acknowledgment the guys and girls that played sports got from students and teachers (mostly town kids because they had the time available.

Oh by the way, I never broke a bone on the farm, but every Monday there always was some sporter that had a crutch or cast.  Farm kids were stronger, faster, physically and mentally superior in so many ways.

THE BENEFITS OF KIDS BEING RAISED ON A FARM out weight the all the disadvantages there city cousins confront everyday. Fat, lazy, spoiled, ignorant, self absorbed, pretentious, entitled, pansy to name a few.  This is the stupidest thing I ever heard.

Barry:
Many people certainly agree with you.
~Stu

Uhhhh, Y’all -

Have by now seen several references by Stu to a link that I sent to him in a private message.  Guess he didn’t realize that it was private.  Sent it to him privately because I didn’t want to cause a fuss - neither expose myself as being even a bigger fool than that which is already known.  However, since Stu had made reference to it , and it has carried on more than once and does not appear in the previous chain of communications, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJraC1NN2sY  It is offered without any apology, whatsoever - as to me, it pretty well explains everything.  May be meaningless and foolish to you, but it has worked awfully well, around here…

This writer further ventures to say that if you don’t get it, there is something very seriously wrong with you. 

If you actually do get it,  would appreciate knowing that, as it could renew my faith in the present…

Have seen some comments about how dangerous farm work is these days… Bigger machines, more horsepower, etc.  Well, yes, that is all true - but they have roll-bars, seat-belts, etc.  I see H and M FarmAlls at shows, sometimes…  Can’t believe that I used to work those, as a kid….  The seat hanging out in the air, and all..  If you ever fell off the back of one of those, you just got ate by whatever you were pulling, and that was it…  But we started off with a hand-cranked gasoline Allis (my brother broke his arm, cranking it)....  (We had a cool gizmo that we could screw into a spark-plug hole to air-up tires with - after taking out the spark-plug - uhhh, we had to do that alot…)

Am reminded of a story that I read when I was kid - about a Midwest family grinding corn-cobs in the field, trying to beat a storm.  At the end of the day, they couldn’t find little Timmy - until later, when they found evidence of him, in the grinder…  Guess if I’m able to write this now, about three-score later, I probably got through it….

Frank-

As a future small family farm owner, this scares me. I have an 8 year old daughter chomping at the bit to help work a family farm, work animals for 4H, etc. She also speaks of helping out at neighbors farms for a few dollars to earn money for a horse.  It scares me to think that maybe this could stop her from her dreams.  The government needs to stay out of this.
I can understand the need to keep mass amounts of children out of a commercial field, but this is going way too far!

The newly proposed regulations from the Department of Labor will delay the education of a farm kid well past the point he or she may ever want to return to the farm.  Ag restrictions are being placed on what can be done at certain ages.

To make revisions to the law is ridiculous, end of story. I have a 12 and 13 year old brother, they milk by themselves, this is their choice, whoever says it’s not right, ask them if they tell their kids they cannot do what they love? I bet they don’t. Farmers….yes they put meat on your table and milk in your jug, but ask us what the first thing we think of when someone says farming….we say that we do what we love.

This does infuriate me just a bit. I’m a farmers wife, we have a 2, 4 & 5 year old. Our children are preparing to leap into 4-H carrying on the family tradition of showing our own livestock, which they help work and have since before they walked. The memories they already have with dad, grandpa and their uncle in the tractor, combine and semis are already ingrained in them. Farm safety is something we have all taught them! They are young, but wise! I feel, THE PARENTS should be the ones making the decisions!!! ENOUGH, THESE ARE OUR CHILDREN! Our number one priority is taking care of our family, then our neighbors. OUR CHILDREN WILL BE IN THE TRACTORS, COMBINES AND SEMIS, AND THEY WILL BE HELPING WITH LIVESTOCK AND DOING THEIR CHORES!!!!

A lot of the teenagers are voicing the same opinion I have on the subject. In fact thats why I chose to write my prepared public speech for our FFA contest on the topic. I think it’s important that the government knows how much us young farmers care about what we’re doing. We’ve grown up on the farm, working beside our parents and siblings our whole lives, so we don’t see it as “slave work” but rather the desire to want to take in as much information about agriculture as we can. FFA says we as teenagers and even young kids, are the leaders of tomorrow, but were not going to gain the knowledge we need by just sitting around until we’re 16/18. I’m proud to say I know how to mow a yard, drive a tractor, bale hay, pick sweetcorn, and the list goes on. By growing up on a farm and working beside my family, I’ve learned the key essentials that I’ll use through the rest of my life.

Kaitlyn:
If the mass of teens is thinking the same way, that is an indication of what the future holds.  You will be driving US farm policy, and I hope those who do have been on a tractor, have seen life and death, and have the work ethic that a farm kid has always had.
~Stu

I’m 16 , i came on this site to write a speech on these laws for My chapter FFA officer election,. I had no clue how much these laws concern my generation of farm children. My dad works me on the farm but its because i want to learn and becasue of him teaching me how hard it is im starting to feed out cattle for a company. There might be more to this then i realize but i dont see such a big deal on letting kids work on a farm. We’re the future we’ve got to learn some how, not make the mistakes our grandfather or fathers did. Remeber, no farmers, no food

Very strong overview! I agree with this opinion “Changes in Child Labor Laws Affective Farm Kids”. I salute this excellent thought. Thanks for sharing content with us.

Just another example of the government gone wild. What intrusions are next?  Wonder what our founders would have to say?  This kind of thing must be stopped….

Thanks for the comment.  I saw a “tweet” earlier today from someone who said he was doing chores at age 6 and had advanced to the combine by age 14, which would have made his father a war criminal.
~Stu

Good job

I have grown up on a farm my entire life(20 now). We raised cattle, horses, goats, and about any crop you could think of. I ran every piece of equipment we had and never was injured once, never trampled by an animal, or in danger in anyway. A farmer taking their kids to the farm, knows the risks and WATCHES OUT for their children. If we aren’t allowed to teach our kid’s how to raise crops and livestock for themselves, then how will the ever: 1. carry on the heritage of farming and 2. be able to take care and provide for themselves??? This may be completely off topic, but this was brought up in a conversation today about this. Has anyone considered that this may be a step of the UN Agenda 21?? For those who don’t know about that, UN21 is generally that the government will control all farm/rural lands. 95% of the population will live in urban areas around jobs and the government will control everything else. This is so eventually the government will have control of all food supplies(since the have control of all of the land). If we don’t teach our children to farm, then when we are gone and the farms belong to them, they aren’t going to know what to do with it. So they try to sell it…., then no one else will buy it because they don’t know what to do with it either, so the government will end up buying it from them. Hence controlling more land. This is just something that was brought up in a conversation about this law today. It makes since to me, but I may be way out in left field on that one. Thoughts??

Kane:
I have not heard about UN21, but you have put 2 and 2 together to make 4.  You will certainly raise the eyebrows of some folks who read this.
~Stu

I’ve always told my son and grandkids, “In the event of a national or world crisis, farmers will be the safest [to be], most important person to know. When it comes down to basics, the entire world depends on what they do. If you cannot grow it or raise it yourself you are always at the mercy of someone else.” Sadly, I’m not a farmer-but have friends that are and KNOW how much my food, clothes, energy, nearly everything, comes from their tireless efforts (and little respect). Farmers DESERVE better and kids should be allowed to (made to) help while they are young, strong and interested. That goes for ‘city kids’, too. I’ve helped on farms and my son started at age 12. It was hard, hot work and he was extremely proud of his paycheck at the end of every week. Now 34, he still WORKS-ethic learned early on.