According to a recent press release from United Horsemen, the proposal to change child labor laws that we first reported at the beginning of September includes restrictions on children gathering livestock on horseback. Under the proposal, working around grain elevators, stockyards and feedlots would also be restricted for children under age 16.
The United Horsemen press release (READ IT HERE) quotes Craig Anderson, Agriculture Labor and Safety Services division manager at the Michigan Farm Bureau as stating that “The DOL (Department of Labor) assumes that youth under age 16 lack the ‘cognitive ability’ to herd animals on horseback, use battery-powered drills, put hay bales on a bale elevator or use any equipment except if powered by hand or foot.”
While it has been stated that there will be an exception for youth working on a farm or ranch owned by their parents, Anderson goes on to say that “If you farm with a brother or sister, an uncle or aunt, grandparents or cousins, the exception does not apply to any of the families’ youth under 16.”
For more information on the proposal from the Department of Labor and to learn how to submit your comments before November 1, please read “Child Labor Laws for Ag Kids?”
© Northern Ag Network 2011
Haylie Shipp
