Kids on Farms

Every now and then an idea surfaces that is so ridiculous that it borders on the insane. Most recently it was a proposed rule by the US Department of Labor. Now remember, we are talking National level here, this idea wouldn’t even be murmured, even under ones breath, in the Oklahoma State Capitol. The Department of Labor proposed a rule that would prevent children from working on family farms. This seemingly nonsensical rule drew the ire of Federal legislators from both sides of the political aisle. It’s almost as if they totally removed their brain and just pulled this one out of their hat. I am neck deep in issues here at our State Capitol but that crazy idea from Washington had all of us stirred up as well as many across the nation. Imagine if you will , little Jonnie or little Susie coming home from school, dad out in the field planting cotton or cutting wheat or checking cattle and the kids could not participate. I guess the brainiacs in the Department of Labor decided that it was just too dangerous for little Jonnie or little Susie to do anything except go home and get on the computer or mindlessly watch afternoon cartoons rather than engage in the family farming operation. If you think about it, it can even reach into 4-H and FFA projects because, heaven forbid, some kid go out and feed an animal, halter break a steer or exercise a lamb like we’ve been doing in rural America for generations or even to go relieve dad on the tractor so dad could be freed up to go take care of some other endless duties that a family farm or ranch requires. We hear over and over the term “these kids today” but you seldom hear anything negative about farm kids or even those fringe dwellers that live on the edge of town but have livestock projects in 4-H or FFA. I know that at our house it was always an expectation that my daughters have some kind of livestock project and I can tell you that my oldest daughter who graduated from OSU and is working now in the wine industry is excelling in that field because she had a work ethic instilled in her at a young age. I’m proud of that and I know it will serve her well the rest of her life. Her younger sister is no different and their whole life they knew that when they got home there were chores. It might be anything from pulling a hay trailer where dad could load it and not have to jump from the tractor to the pickup or it might be as simple as come help me sort these calves off these cows. Sure, farm kids are prone to injury but we already have enough disconnect from American agriculture as it is without doing away with the training that these kids receive growing up on or around a farming operation. I am so thankful for the training I received on the back of a hay wagon for three summers back in the late 70’s and early 80’s when as soon as we were old enough to drive we started hauling mass quantities of square baled hay. I have filled more barns in Comanche County and Cotton County than I care to try to remember but thanks to families like the Mitchell family, whom I’ve spoken of before, I learned the value of hard work and that sometimes even when you don’t feel like going you gotta’ dig deep and get er’ done. Work is a value in our State and I still believe that whatever the field, hard work is rewarded. It’s about survival. Many times I’ve seen people not know what to do when they lose a job because they picture themselves in some sort of a category where they shouldn’t have to work and I’m here to tell ya’ that farm kids will be survivors because they are industrious, they know how to roll up their sleeves and many times they learned it at home or somewhere not far from home. They didn’t learn it on a computer or from television. They learned it from growing up and working and until we remember how important that is and remind people, like the folks at the U.S. Department of Labor, that in the words of Hank Williams Jr. “a country boy (or girl) can survive.” If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarme@okhouse.gov And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road: No one has ever drowned in his own sweat. ~~ Lou Holtz