Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
The U.S. Department of Labor is withdrawing proposed rules that would have limited the types of work children under the age of 16 could do on farms. The Labor Department received thousands of comments from people across the country asking that the proposal be modified or not implemented.
Commissioner Troxler is one of the thousands who commented on the proposal. He says the rules would have gone too far in restricting the work young people could do on farms. In some cases, the rules would have prevented a farmer’s own children from working on the farm.
In announcing that it was withdrawing the rule proposal, the Labor Department said it would instead work with farm groups to develop an educational program on farm safety for young workers.
Click below to listen to Commissioner Troxler and Rhonda talk about the Labor Department’s decision and why the future of agriculture is partly dependent on young people gaining work experience on farms.
[Audio:http://info.ncagr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_5-1.mp3 |titles=Today’s Topic for May 1]
Related post: Today’s Topic: Proposed federal farm regulations (Nov. 8, 2011)
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