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Down On Farm: Blunt Critical Of Proposed Rules
December 09th 2011 by Unknown
Down On Farm: Blunt Critical Of Proposed Rules

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt strongly condemned the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule today, which would restrict youth from performing some duties on farms.

The Obama Administration is considering revisions to federal agricultural work rules that effectively would bar teens younger than 16 from engaging in a number of traditional chores for pay — including detasseling.

Opponents of the rules across the Farm Belt argue that they are in part an attack on a way of life, one foreign to Beltway bureaucrats and one that should be encouraged in an era of rising childhood obesity rates and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

“Having grown up working on my family’s dairy farm, I am outraged by the Department of Labor’s ridiculous attempts to restrict other young Americans from doing the same,” said Blunt.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Some farmers are opposing new rules proposed by the federal government that would restrict the chores children can be hired to perform in the nation's fields, including driving tractors and rounding up cattle in corrals on horseback.”

“Farmers and ranchers care deeply about the safety of those working on their farms,” Blunt continued. “But this rule is absurd, and it would hurt these job creators who rely on young people to assist with the day-to-day operations of American farms.”

“The next generation of farmers and ranchers need hands-on experience and skills to meet the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing world. Not only would this rule prevent young people from learning how to safely work in this industry, but it would harm programs like 4-H and FFA that help foster and develop critical skills for future leaders in agriculture.”

The American Farm Bureau is heading a coalition of more than 70 ag groups that have petitioned the Labor Department to reconsider what would be the first major rewrite of farm labor standards since the 1970s.

“We have no desire at all to have young teenagers working in jobs that are inappropriate or entail too much risk,” said Bob Stallman, president of the farm bureau.“Farmers and ranchers are more interested than anyone else in assuring the safety of farming operations, and their right to operate their farms with family members is specifically permitted by Congress. We don’t want to see those rights infringed.”

The department is reviewing those laws, which also would cover work with bulls, cows and other farm animals and farm machinery, at the urging of groups such as the Child Labor Coalition and the National Safety Council.



Last Updated on December 09th 2011 by Unknown




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