Department of Labor Withdraws Youth Agriculture Restrictions

Press Release

Thursday evening the U.S. Department of Labor announced that proposed rules to restrict youth from working in agriculture would be withdrawn by the Administration. The new restrictions would have banned teenagers from certain livestock work and eliminated 4-H and FFA training certifications, limiting vocational agriculture training for youth and impairing the intergenerational transfer of agriculture skills and knowledge.

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo), a Member of the House Appropriations Committee and outspoken opponent of the measure, had been working with U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) to cut off funding for the proposal in the Department of Labor's annual appropriations bill.

"This proposal was a clear intrusion on the family farm by the government," Rep. Lummis said. "I'd like to thank the families across the country that took the time to voice their opposition to this proposed government intrusion and firmly drew a line in the sand. This is truly a victory for the family farm and the dedicated, time-tested student organizations like 4-H and FFA that were targeted by this proposal. I will see to it that this proposal or anything like it moving forward, does not receive one dime from the taxpayer."

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