CHILD LABOR LAWS REVISITED

                      Published February 18, 2011, in Intermountain Farm and Ranch

             As I look at the growing concern over the lack of responsibility, over-absorption of today’s media, and obesity in our children as they get into their teens and young adulthood, I wonder if we should revisit the Child Labor Laws. One day last summer an early morning TV show was highlighting a lack of obedience to the Child Labor Law as it showed a child of five carrying two buckets of blue berries while her older brothers, ages  seven and eleven were picking blue berries along side of their parents. The TV show told how the family was paid per bucket, and that they were financially impoverished. In looking at these children, not one of the three looked obese, and they didn’t look unhappy. The buckets the little girl was carrying looked to be about the size of a five-quart ice cream container, and she didn’t appear to be struggling with them.

            The Child Labor Law, as a general rule, sets fourteen years of age as the minimum age for employment and limits the number of hours worked by minors under the age of sixteen. Come on, by the time teenagers are between fourteen and sixteen, they don’t want to work. They have been able to play until then, so why should they work.

            Maybe we should be able to use children when they are willing to work.  I have found with my own children, somewhere between the ages of three and ten is when they are willing and excited about work; finding it “fun”. Once they get into their teens, they view work as “work”.  I’m noticing, also, that by the time our youth reach the adolescent years, many of them are starting into the thought of “everyone owes me.” This attitude can carry on throughout their lives.

            I’m not suggesting that we put our children in a factory to work long hours at salaries below minimum wage. But picking blue berries, carrying a bucket full of the berries to the drop-off place? These children were not confined to a smoke filled room with loud machines. They were outside and actually exercising, being productive, and spending time with their family. 

            Yes, there is the concern of the chemicals used on crops, all agriculture crops.  But that concern should be for the parents also, not just the children. Are the chemicals more damaging physically to the child than some of the TV shows and video games are damaging to their mental and emotional health?

            Yes, there is the danger of large equipment being in the fields. I don’t know about the equipment in the blue berry patches, but I do know what equipment is required around the alfalfa and grain fields, and even with the cattle operation. However, there is the danger of large equipment on the roads when the children are riding their skateboards or bikes or playing ball. There are dangers when children have too much free time.

            Do we have our priorities wrong?  I know that all children can’t live on the farm where there are daily chores for them to take care of, no matter what their age.  But surely there are things that can be done that not only keep our children busy with responsible tasks, but things that will benefit others plus build their self esteem and sense of responsibility. Perhaps if children had responsibility at a young age, it would keep them from sitting in front of the TV or computer, eating junk food, and viewing violence.

            I’m aware there are a lot of young people who are responsible and hardworking. It seems, as in most cases, the irresponsible ones are those we look at and judge the rest by. 

            Those three children in the blue berry patch very likely know that work equals money.  Do the majority of our children understand this simple, yet so essential, truth? And these three children, if allowed to continue helping their parents, are less likely to become irresponsible or obese.

Skyler and Jaedn chopping wood at Dehlin ranch.

BUSY MORNING CONTEMPLATIONS

     Just have a minute to sit down, finally. It's 10 a.m. and I've been going since 5:30 a.m. The first hour and half I spent writing, so that wasn't very draining physcially, but did drain me mentally. Then fixing breakfast for the one to four guys who eat here. (It depends on what is going on whether I have four or one, and they usually don't let me know, so I always plan on four.)

     As I walked through the kitchen and livingroom, I decided my house is too big! I've been working at cleaning for a good hour and half and still have a couple of hours worth to do to get the main floor cleaned up. Then to the basement to mop and vacuum and pick up and dust. On days like this I miss the ranch house! Two bedrooms, kitchen/family room, and a back porch. I could go through it and mop all the floors and be done in a little over an hour. But then I don't have the modern convenience there that I have here. The wash machine and dish washer have both been running while I've been cleaning this morning. So I guess I could say I've had help with my work.

     As I've been cleaning I've opened all the blinds. What a beautiful morning this has been. As the sun was coming up, the snow sparkled so bright a person almost needed dark glasses.  The ground is appearing from underneath the layers of snow. Yes, this means mud tracked into the house, and it also means that spring is thinking of coming. With spring comes the busy times that last until next November. 

     The beautiful morning makes me anxious to start hanging clothes out on the line to dry. How I love to climb into bed with clean sheets that have been dried out in the sun. They smell so good!  And I enjoy being out listening to the birds singing their good morning songs as I hang the clothes out.

     When it comes right down to it, I'm very contented with my life. I wouldn't want to live any other place, to any other man. I wouldn't want to be involved in any other business than agriculture. We have a busy life, but it is busy with good things. I am thankful!

    

Calving Time

Splinting a calves hooves so it won't walk on it's ankles.

CALVING TIME

Published in Intermountain Farm and Ranch February 4, 2011

Calving time is a busy time on the ranch, a time of being alert to signs of eminent birth problems with cows and new-born calves. It’s also an exciting and rewarding time: watching the first-time mothers, the heifers. Seeing a new calf born is a miracle in itself as the mom gently licks her new baby and guides it to its first meal. Many times I have noticed a group of two or three older cows surrounding a heifer, giving her support through her labor. The older cows will be “lowing”, almost humming, as if they are saying, “You can do it, just hang in there.”

            Occasionally there will be a cow that doesn’t accept its newborn, and those two have to be worked with and watched carefully for a few days. They are isolated into a small pen so they can become acquainted. If the mother is aggressive and kicks as the baby tries to nurse, she will often have to be restrained so the baby can eat. After a few days of isolation and, if necessary, restraint, the mother will usually accept her calf.

            A few years ago we had some serious problems with our newborns. Within 3 or 4 days after birth they developed diarrhea (or scours as it’s called in animals). This can kill a newborn fairly quickly because they dehydrate so fast. A friend and neighbor, Keith Elkington, showed us how to do IVs so we set up an emergency room in our basement where we administered fluid through IVs. The ambulance was a wheelbarrow, pushed by the emergency technicians called ranchers. Our equipment was not the most modern, but it worked: an old floor lamp that we brought down from the attic – this was the IV pole; liter Coke bottles held the fluid; a clothes pin to clamp off the tubing when we needed to; no IV needles, just regular needles, so we had to be there to hold them in; old rugs on the floor to lay the calves on. Sometimes we had three calves to work on simultaneously. After a calf was up and moving around, it would be taken back out to its mother in the shed. When we would finish with one bunch, I would mop the floor with a Clorox or Lysol solution and wash the rugs in disinfectant solution preparing for the next bunch to be brought in. This went on for two or three weeks. I think we did IVs on close to 35 calves that year and only lost four or five.

            We have worked hard to prevent this happening again. Anti-scour vaccinations are available for the pregnant cows to give the newborn calves a boost against scours. Cleanliness is really important to maintain in calving area, and not always easy in muddy, sloppy weather. After we clean the sheds out in the fall, we spread lime on the floor before putting straw down as lime is an efficient and cheap disinfectant. Another thing that is important is constant checking on cows and calves. Recognizing scours early on before it can progress to dehydration is especially important. And this can only be done by walking through the animals often and observing them. A calf with its head hanging down and it’s back hunched up or one lying down with its tail straight out needs to be moved to the shed and closely watched.

            Yes, calving time is a time of heavy responsibility, but a special time also. As the weather warms up and the new calves start romping through the pasture, it’s like watching a group of kindergarten aged children out on the playground. They run and jump, seem to tease each other, almost seem to play tag with one another. How fun it is  observe these things in our own back yard! How blessed we are to be ranchers!