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Farm News & Views - April 18, 2023

Reports about the Colorado Consumer Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment Act that was approved by the Senate in March, have made many farmers and ranchers hopeful that they will have more control over who can repair their tractors, and harvest equipment. Last week, the Colorado House of representatives voted 44-16 to approve the bill and send it to Governor Jarad Polis for his signature. If signed, this bill will be first right to repair act for farm equipment to be approved in the U.S. A memorandum of understanding was signed with great fanfare late last year between the American Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere Manufacturing Company that supposedly allowed farmers and independent repair shops to repair the company’s equipment. But legal scholars pointed out that it really didn’t bind the company to provide the proprietary manuals and supplies necessary for completing maintenance and repairs.

Last week, an explosion and fire at Southfork Dairy Farm, located in the Texas panhandle, southeast of Dimmitt, Texas, resulted in what may be largest single-incident livestock death toll in the U.S. The Castro County Sheriff's office reported that 18,000 head of dairy cattle died in the catastrophic event. Southfork Dairy Farm has been in operation less than a year. The dead cows represented about 90% of the farm's total herd, and when the explosion occurred, the cows were in a large holding pen waiting to be milked. With the cows valued roughly at about $2,000 per head, the company's losses in livestock alone amounts to about $36 million, which doesn't include equipment and structure losses. One employee was hospitalized with serious injuries as a result of the accident.

Secretary of Agriculture Agriculture Tom Vilsack warned meatpackers and other companies in the food-supply chain that they need to take steps to ensure that illegal child labor isn't being used in their operations, whether they’re working for suppliers, subcontractors or other vendors. While kids often work on farms and ranches, they usually have parental supervision and concern. But food sanitation company, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., was fined $1.5 million in February following a Department of Labor investigation that found at least 102 children ranging from 13-17 years old were working in hazardous occupations, often on overnight shifts, in at least 13 meat processing facilities across eight states. However, the Iowa State Legislature may not have gotten the memo, since Senate File 167 introduced by Sen. Jason Schultz would allow teens to work longer hours and in more types of jobs in factories. As written, the legislation would allow 14 and 15-year-olds to work evening work shifts ending at 9 p.m during the school year, and until 11 p.m. during the summer. The senate bill would also allow children to work up to 6 hours a day during the school year, while 17 year olds could work the same hours as adults, and work permits would be eliminated. The legislation also provides cover for businesses that hire younger workers by specifying that if a minor becomes ill, is injured, or killed, companies would be shielded from liability, and only the highest standard of gross negligence or willful misconduct could be filed in civil court. And, if young employees were injured, they could not file workers compensation claims. Seems like this plot came out of a Charles Dickens novel.

Henry David Throreau wrote: “What is the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on.”

Bob has been an agricultural educator and farm and ranch management consultant for over 40 years in southwest Colorado. He writes about agricultural issues from his farm near Cortez, and has helped to produce farm reports on KSJD for more than a dozen years.