[AT] DOL regulations discussion continued

Alan Nadeau ajnadeau1 at comcast.net
Mon Jan 16 14:02:05 PST 2012


Grant,

I can totally appreciate your view on this current crop of government 
interference in our lives.

I was driving a hay truck, in the fields under close supervision at 10/11 
(my birthday falls mid-summer).  I was raking hay at 11/12, maybe a year 
older than that, my oldtimers is kicking in) without any supervision other 
than one lap around the field with my uncle riding with me.  This was on my 
Grandparents dairy operation and probably prior to most of the BS in force 
today.

We relied on local high school age kids for most of our haying labor.  Never 
had anybody get hurt that I can recall.   Can't do that legally now.

You are spot on about not being able to pass on our knowledge about ag. 
We're losing both an important part of our rural heritage and an excellent 
way to teach kids a work ethic.  I was always on the farm, 40 miles from 
where I lived all summer, and earned my spending money there.  The guys I 
went to school with depended on their haying wages in the same way.  I was 
never there and involved in it myself but there was a local gas 
station/garage where the guy used to hang out and pass word about who was 
looking for help.  On occasion a farmer would come into town in the morning 
to see who was looking for work that day.  Notice I said "looking for work" 
as opposed to "looking for a job", the difference is clear to anyone who has 
been there, done that.

In our touchy/feely desire to "protect" our kids we are teaching them how to 
do,,,,,,,NOTHING!  By the time a kid can hold a job now they have learned 
how to hang out, play video games or get in trouble but have little clue as 
to what is expected when work is involved.

Maybe this is better, in some sense of the word but IMO it is a travesty and 
only serves to defeat the acquisition of any manner of work ethic.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant Brians" <sales at heirloom-organic.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 4:28 PM
Subject: [AT] DOL regulations discussion continued


> As an active farmer and having children, I have a keen interest in the new
> proposed regulations restricting minors from most ag occupations. I found
> the best articulation of the basics of the issue in this Western Farm 
> Press
> online article:
>
> http://westernfarmpress.com/government/grange-stands-against-proposed-child-
> labor-regulations
>
> A point which has been generally lost is that if a family farm is
> incorporated or a partnership in LEGAL structure, then by the DOL new
> definitions, it is no longer subject to the family exemption. Another 
> issue
> is that there has become a lack of understanding that if kids are visiting
> their parents in a farm field (say when the family lives on or adjacent to
> the farm) that they are not "working" for the farm.
>
> Another issue which is highlighted well in the Farm Press Grange article, 
> is
> one that would have applied to me as a young teenager. I learned how to 
> move
> irrigation pipe, drive certain tractors, plant vegetables with preceision
> planters (all of which has been extremely useful to me as a farmer both
> during my teens and since) by working for the farmer who initially rented
> the land we moved to. I was 13 and 14 years old, far below the "allowed 
> age"
> in these new regulations, but yet those experiences were really useful and
> very good for me. Our children have friends who are clamoring to do things
> on the farm because they want to learn, but I cannot let them do because 
> the
> regulations we currently have that are looser than the proposed ones
> prohibit me allowing them to do so! There is no economic benefit to me to
> teach these kids, but I would do so because it is the right thing to do!
> Where will the next generation of farmers come from?
>
> Sigh.
>        Grant Brians
>        Hollister,California farmer
>
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