Stillwater, Oklahoma — The Department of Labor recently closed its comment period for proposed changes in farm regulations for minors, but some local farmers and politicians are concerned that the new rules could be disastrous for the family farm if they are eventually put into effect.

The new regulations were suggested by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and are intended to create parity among labor laws for minors in agricultural and non-agricultural industries. 

Among the new rules are regulations removing a certification program that allowed youth younger than 16 to operate most tractors and powered farm equipment without supervision, expanded restrictions on youth working with animals and prohibit work that is done at more than 6 feet off the ground.

Workers younger than 18 would also be restricted from working in grain elevators, silos, feed lots, stockyards and livestock exchanges or auctions.

The regulations would not apply to children working on a farm owned by their parents, but it would prevent these youth workers from being employed on that farm if it has organized as an LLC or if the farm is owned by the worker’s grandparents.

Ryan Luter and his wife run a cow and calf operation in Payne County, and his parents have a farm in northern Payne County. Luter said he and his brother helped scoop wheat into a truck for his parents, and he began driving a tractor between the ages of 12 and 14.

“The typical view of a family farm is exactly that, a family farm,” he said. “I think a lot of the reason kids are so excited about (agricultural) enterprise is they’ve done it for years. It’s a way of life as much as it is true work.”

Luter said he was taught about the dangers of farm work from a young age, and that training he received from his parents helped make him safe. He added that while there would be some exemptions, a lot of family farms organize as an LLC for liability reasons.

“My wife and I have a 20-month-old and are expecting another child. We’ve styled our lifestyle in being able to introduce our children to (farm work), where they learn responsibility from a young age,” Luter said.

Another concern Luter had about the proposed regulations is their impact on 4-H and FFA projects. He said these programs teach children leadership through service projects, which often involve being around livestock or a farm. 

Luter said he learned how to work with animals doing these projects, and he learned responsibility knowing that animals were dependent on him for food and water.

“That’s where I learned my animal behavior knowledge. It’s no more intuitive for a 14-year-old than an 18-year-old,” he said. “That will kill all of our 4-H and FFA programs at least from a livestock stance.”

Luter also said he was concerned about how far-reaching the regulations would be about being able to tell farmers what they can and can’t do while raising their children, and he said he thought it set a dangerous precedent.

The proposed changes have inspired strong opinions locally and nationally.

During an October public hearing held by the Department of Labor in Tampa, Fla., Reid Maki of the Child Labor Coalition spoke in favor of the changes. Maki listed a high number of farm-related injuries and deaths and also cited an Aug. 4 accident in Kremlin, near Enid, where two 17-year-olds each lost a leg while trapped in a grain auger.

Maki also stated that 40 percent of fatalities for teen workers occur on farms, which gives agriculture the highest fatality rate of any industry for youth workers.

He also cited data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which first proposed the new regulations in 2002. 

According to NIOSH data, an estimated 907 youth died between 1995 and 2002 on American farms, and half the fatalities for youth on farms involved children younger than 15.

In Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin, Ag Secretary Jim Reese and Labor Commissioner Mark Costello have all spoken out against the proposed changes.

“We need more young farmers in Oklahoma, not less,” Fallin and Reese said in a letter to the Department of Labor. “We need more young people to know where their food comes from, not less. We need more young people outside, exercising, working and earning rather than discouraging this practice. The federal government should not construct further employment barriers at a time when there are fewer job opportunities for young people.”

Fallin and Resse’s letter also argued that because programs such as cooperative extensions and vocational agricultural education vary broadly from state to state, it should be up to those states to address issues of farm safety.

Costello’s letter to the Department of Labor was even more direct.

“I would much rather defer to the authority of a parent to manage the safety of their child than a distant bureaucrat,” the Oklahoma labor commissioner wrote. “This absurdity will destroy agricultural jobs, hurt American agricultural competitiveness and damage the cultural integrity of the rural family.”

Costello called the regulation “flawed nanny state rules” and urged officials to reconsider the proposal.