Proposed rules should reflect real condition

You've probably heard the one about the guy in a suit who drives up in his fancy car and issues a challenge to a rancher.

"If I tell you exactly how many cattle you have in that pasture, will you give me one?"

Sure, says the rancher.

The dude whips out his smart phone, uses GPS to pinpoint his exact location, logs onto a secret satellite and feeds the real-time image into a program which prints out the answer:

"You have exactly 1,247 cows!"

True to his word, the rancher lets his visitor claim his choice of the herd.

Before the city slicker drives away, however, the country gentleman issues his own challenge.

"Wait a minute," he said, "if I can guess your occupation, I get your car!"

His confidence brimming, the fancy visitor takes the bait.

"You're an employee of the federal government!"

How did he know, sputtered the visitor.

"No trouble at all," replied the rancher. "You showed up here even though nobody called you, you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you tried to show me how much smarter than me you are. Now give me back my dog!"

Thanks to new rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor, many farmers and agriculture groups are feeling like the rancher in the story.

The proposals would prohibit farmworkers under 16 from participating in agricultural work with animals, pesticide handling, timber operations, manure pits and storage bins.

They would also prohibit youth under 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment, a rule which has applied to nonagricultural workers for 50 years or so. And, those under the age 18 could not be employed in the storing, marketing and transporting of raw farm product materials, or work in country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges or livestock auctions.

There are exemptions for kids who work on their parents' farms, but what if the farm is owned by a limited liability corporation, or if the parents manage the farm for an absentee owner?

The proposed rules would prohibit the use of electronic or communication device while operating a tractor -- regulators apparently have never heard of the two-way radios, cellphones or GPS systems that are vital to modern farm operations.

Opponents also worry that the strict rules will make it that much harder for young people to get into farming, which is a real concern for the nation's increasingly aging farm population.

Yes, farming is a dangerous business, and too many young people are killed or injured in accidents involving grain bins, power equipment, chemicals and other dangers.

But unless more realistic regulations replace the one-size-fits all proposals now being advanced, those restrictive rules will be ignored to the detriment of the young people they are intended to protect.