Category: Challenges

Youth Labor Laws Scrapped!

Some of you may have heard about the newly proposed labor laws set forth by the Department of Labor regarding youth working in agriculture and how just late Thursday night they have pulled away from these overreaching regulations!!  These laws, if put in place, would have been a huge detriment to our industry.  I believe as a family farmer that safety is hugely important and something that needs to be addressed every day, especially when you have youth working on your operation.  But I also believe that these rules were very over the top and would have prohibited many of us from even employing our own children to drive a combine!

My Cousin Emily who also worked on our farm for many summers!


The DOL asked for comments this past year and here are a few of the concerns that I had, among many, with their new regulations.

November 18, 2011

I am a third generation farmer in Oregon and have been farming with my mother and father now for five years.  Although we are an incorporated farm, we are still a family farm.  In these proposed rules we would not only loose our “family farm” exemption just because we are incorporated, we would also lose the ability to hire youth from our very own families who we have relied on for generations to help during the busy times of year.  I grew up farming as a youngster on the farm and have taken away problem solving skills, a good work ethic, and a chance to have real responsibilities.  All of which have helped me and my siblings and cousins be successful into adulthood.  I think that to take away this opportunity for young people who are family members is a mistake!  I don’t yet have children of my own, but I plan to incorporate not only my own children, but also my nieces and nephews and someday grandchildren into this farm.  Please do not take away this opportunity for them to have a place here.  I hope that future generations of children, nieces, nephews and grandkids can learn what I’ve learned and come away with a true respect for farming and all that it does for this country.

The start of the next generation for our Farm!

Another concern is the 90 hours of schooling that will be required of the youth in order to come and work on the farm.  I think that this is way too much a burden and will cause our ability to get youth to come and help with the harvest impossible.  At a time when agriculture isn’t being taught in every school, and being cut from programs across the nation; we have to think of the realistic problems this will bring.  Plus majority of the information needed when working on a farm is found right there, with the best teachers, the farmer’s themselves.  We already have rigid safety rules that are required for all employees no matter what their age; and I feel that these keep us safe everyday on the farm.  I see more hourly classroom requirements only as a way to decrease the amount of youth that will be able to come back and help farm and get all the benefits that working there can provide.

The maximum height restriction is another inappropriate limitation.  Many of our harvest equipment is much taller than the six feet that this restriction allows, but they are as safe as if they were standing on the ground.  Any other areas that are above that height such as lofts are always on our minds as possible safety danger areas.  Because of that they are always a topic in safety meetings and in training; we are aware of the danger and have put in place safety measures to keep us all safe.  Having been an employed youth on this operation and I can attest to how safe we are able to go about business, even over 6 ft from the ground.  Ladders are another example of a place where we do business over 6 feet in the air.  And again this safety issue is covered over and over again; we tell them how to do things right and in a safe manner.  I believe that because we do follow regulations that are put in place already we have never had an injury from any event that started when a child was over 6 ft from the ground.

I think that this shows how important it is to pay attention and be involved in your industry! Someone once told me that if you’re not at the table, then you’re on the table! Ever since then I have begun to realize how important agvocacy truly is!!


The Hunt is On!

There is one thing on the farm that can stop all progress. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, or how important it is, nothing takes precedence over the chance for a SQUIRREL HUNT! We fight squirrels all year long. They are always running around, stealing nuts (crop) from our orchards, digging holes everywhere and in general being a huge nuisance. I will say that they do have a sort of natural appeal that people like. Loyola Marymount University is a great example of how a good “natural” animal can become a huge

nuisance! I went there for undergrad and it was rumored that they imported squirrels on to campus to bring a more natural feel to the place. They ended up completely taking over, apparently they didn’t figure on all the reproducing these things would do while hanging out and getting fed by college students. They became such a big issue my sophomore year I thought about appealing to get some hunting permits. One of my neighbors actually had a break in one day, I heard the screaming and came running. She was outside her room yelling that a squirrel had broken into her room and was ravaging the place. We waited until the commotion in the room settled before opening the door. The place was ransacked, and after the darn thing eaten all the Oreos she had stored in her dorm, it left little squirrel prints all over her homework, bed, and desk.

Sharpshooting Kirsch Crew

But all that aside, let’s just say that I have no real emotional attachment to these danged beasts. So today when I saw my dog Yukon take off out of the garage at Mach 4 all I had to do was yell “Squirrel!” and the chase began. Dad jumped to attention and ran to grab the shotgun. I watched as Yukon chased it up a tree, he sat below barking like crazy. I kept a close eye on the tree waiting to see where the thing was headed, as dad went running out the door shotgun in hand. At this point Yukon was having no part of the deal, he was a city dog for a few years and subsequently is now gun shy, so he crawled back into the garage, leaving this squirrel fight to the professionals (I mean my dad and I). So I was yelling from the house directions on where this monster was hiding on our giant black walnut tree outside. When I decided to head out there, because 4 eyes are better than two; however I did not grab a gun, when you’re running in circles around a tree really only one gun is better than two!

It took some doing, about 4 times running around the tree and finally dad could get a shot at the tail, it was a long shot, but he did it, BLAM! Another one hits the dust! This may sound a little redneck…well probably because is a little redneck. But who else can say that squirrel hunting trumps all other work while on the job?! Another good day to be a farmer, or just a country bumpkin!

Death Taxes…How will they Impact our Farm?

I was in an article last week in the Oregonian about passing down the farm and how my family is planning for that transition. After the article posted online I was very amazed by how many comments were made going on and on about how the death tax in Oregon isn’t going to inhibit our family’s ability to farm or pass the farm along to the next generation. To be fair there were comments going both ways, but I would still like to set a few things straight. First of all I’m writing this on my blog and not on the actual comments because I felt the need to defend my support of getting rid of the death tax over and over again, so I’m just doing it once here and those that want to read it, great, those that don’t, that’s fine too. Plus I was told a few months ago after I expressed my exhaustion of trying to convince people of certain things that I believe in, and finding that they are closed off to new suggestions or new ideas, that maybe my plan shouldn’t be to change the minds of the 5% that are adamant of certain things in life, I should focus on trying to inform the other 95% that don’t quite have their minds made up or have a more neutral attitude.

So here goes. I would first like to say that in our family, my generation hasn’t had to deal with estate taxes, since my mom and dad haven’t passed away yet. So it’s not fair to say that it won’t be a hindrance to us when that does happen someday (hopefully a faraway someday). We just recently met with their attorney and we were shown that even with lots of careful estate planning, and lots of money to attorneys and accountants we will still have to pay significant taxes when that day does come. Taxes that hopefully will be covered by life insurance, which in itself is not cheap and has to be paid for until their death!

Ag exemptions or Natural Resource Exemptions do exists, but they only increase the exemption to $7.5 million, they don’t get rid of the tax. So in reality you’re still paying the taxes and it is still a very real threat to farming families. And you might think that farms could never reach that high of estate value, well you’re very wrong. When land values can sit anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000 per acre in our area, $7.5 million can be reached in a hurry. And even if you don’t end up reaching that threshold, how much money have you already spent in fees to attorney and accountants just to get that exemption and get things all set up so that you don’t have that tax liability? I’ll tell you right now, it’s not cheap!

Plus the estate tax is a double tax! Me, my parents, everyone has been paying taxes their whole life on their business. So why in the event that you die does the state feel like they are entitled to a portion of what you have worked so hard for?! We are only a fraction of states that still have the death tax at a state level; I don’t think it’s a fair tax at all! It also affects small businesses in Oregon and I truly feel that it hurts Oregon’s business economy. There was a study done on the economic impacts that would be made if Oregon got rid of the estate tax, 44,500 jobs it was they found to be the impact. These were jobs that would be created in our state, easily making up the small loss in revenue that the state would take!

There is a proposed initiative to get rid of the Death Tax in Oregon over a 4 year period. Signature cards are being signed right now to try to get this on the ballot this November. You can go to End Oregon Death Tax to get more information and sign a signature card to help us get this on the ballot this coming November and hopefully rid Oregon of this double, non-business friendly tax!