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December 19, 2011 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas stood up for rural communities by asking the U.S. Department of Labor to withdraw a proposed rule that could change the structure of family farms and have a negative impact on the education of the next generation of farmers.
On September 2, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor announced proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which could, among other provisions, prohibit teens and children younger than 16 from working on a farm or ranch that is not directly owned by their parents.
“This proposed rule is another example of Washington being out of touch with Nebraskans’ values. The Department of Labor should kill this rule before it destroys important traditions in rural America and hurts the farm economy,” Senator Nelson said. “One out of every three jobs in Nebraska is tied to agriculture. We need to increase opportunities for our family farmers and ranchers to strengthen our rural economies, not threaten them with new, unneeded regulations from Washington.”
Today, Nelson and Moran sent a letter to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis that read, “As a result of the many deficiencies of the proposed rule outlined in this letter, we request the Department withdraw the proposed rule immediately.”
Today’s letter, which was signed by 30 U.S. senators, raises a number of specific issues, including:
- Restrictions on the existing agriculture parental exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which would endanger the ability of some family farms to employ their children
- Elimination of an effective training and certification program conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 4-H, the National FFA Organization and other vocational agriculture education institutions, and it would limit the activities that could be taught under the student learner program conducted by schools across rural America
- Restrictions on young workers’ operation of tractors and other power-driven equipment, non-power driven hoisting apparatus and conveyors
- Prevention of youth from working with or around animals
- Lowering the elevations at which young farm workers are permitted to work from 20 feet to 6 feet
- Banning young farm workers from being involved in nearly any type of activity related to pesticides, regardless of toxicity
The letter is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council, the National FFA Organization, the American Horse Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America, the National Association of Agricultural Educators, and the National Corn Growers Association.
In October, Nelson and Moran built support among their colleagues and sent an initial letter to Secretary Solis that stated their concerns and sought an extension of the comment period on the proposed rule. In response, the Labor Department extended the public comment period until December 1st.
In today’s letter, Nelson and Moran wrote, “After having additional time to review the Proposed Rule and compare the proposed changes to existing statutory law, regulations, and the Department’s existing interpretive documents, we believe the initial concerns were well-founded. As a result of these concerns, we request the Department withdraw the Proposed Rule in its entirety.
“We would like to emphasize the Department was under no obligation to propose new regulations. Congress has not amended the Fair Labor Standards Act in regard to the agricultural standards referenced in the proposed rule since 1977. It is puzzling why the Department would suddenly propose changes to existing regulations, particularly considering the advancements in farm equipment and adoption of technologies that have improved operator safety in the last 35 years.”
For the full text of the letter, please click here.
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