Teens under 16 who drive tractors, pick fruit or work with machinery on a farm could find their jobs in jeopardy if the U.S. Labor Department approves the proposed new rules limiting the types of jobs that younger workers can do on a farm. Farming is dangerous work, the feds say. In fact, it’s “the single-most hazardous occupation, as measured by fatalities, for children,” labor expert Michael Hancock told the Associated Press. Many teenagers who work the farms, though, say there’s little reason to regulate. Many kids grow up driving tractors before they’re old enough to get a legal license, sweep out barns, vaccinate piglets and do any number of jobs their parents deem safe.

Stetson Meyer, 14, and his brother Shane Meyer, Jr., 16, in background, work on their family's sow farm near Beatrice, Neb. (Photo by NATI HARNIK, Associated Press)