I am a farm girl through and through. If you and I have met and held just one simple conversation, you know I grew up on a farm; most all of my hobbies still involve agriculture in some way; AND I love to talk farming with ANYONE (farmers, consumers, students and legislators)! So how did I gain such a passion for agriculture, you ask? I learned it by being involved in my family farming operation. I spent as much time as I could as my dad’s sidekick. I helped check fence, ship hogs, move cattle and walk soybeans, just to name a few duties. Being involved in the family farming operation was how I spent my time as a youth.

Don’t get me wrong. Life on a farm was not always hard work. My two sisters and I spent summers exploring the back pasture, swinging on the rope in the hay barn and playing in the creek behind the house. We also spent time showing horses on the weekends and showing cattle and hogs at the 4-H and FFA fairs. All of these activities that I mention bring back great memories. I worked hard, but I learned a lot as I grew up working on a farm along with the rest of my family.

I bring up this story because as proud as I am to have the chance to raise my kids on the farm, I am not sure they will be able to have the same great learning experiences that I had. Their right to grow up, being actively involved in a farming operation seems to be slipping away as governmental regulations creep closer and closer under the proposed child farm labor rule.