Farmers Urged To Contact Lawmakers About New Federal Mandates

In less than two weeks, new federal mandates go into effect that will require farmers to comply with vehicle regulations.

Officials said if local farmers don't comply, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and state police could lose millions in federal funding. But, local farmers said it's a huge hit.

The regulations are complicated and farmers said it's difficult to determine what will and won't be permitted after March 31, and even who can drive a pickup truck on a far.

"I have a 15-year-old son," said Mary Yahner, a farmer in Patton. "He's not going to be allowed to drive our vehicles."

Yahner said, on his family's farm, it's all hands on deck and even the kids pitch in. But, under the new regulations, 16 and 17 year olds would not be allowed to drive farm trucks on roadways and all other drivers would have to meet medical requirements.

"A lot of farmers hire part-time help during the planting season, harvest season. Those people aren't going to get medical clearances, so the farmers going to have a hard time finding people to drive equipment," Yahner said.

He said the federal regulations affect the farmers themselves.

"If a farmer has a medical condition that he can't get a medical certification, he won't be able to drive his own trucks," Yahner said.

The rule would also require farmers to log the hours they work before heading back out on the roads and conduct pre-and- post trip inspections. Every time they go from the farm to the field with farmers already working around the day, they said making ends meet is tough enough.

"It's always a tough way to make a living. This is just another tough regulation that's going to make it hard to stay in the business," Yahner said.

Currently, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is urging farmers to contact their state and federal lawmakers asking them to push legislation that would make sure the mandates don't go into effect or at least delays the mandates until they can take a closer look at the legislation.

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