Each year in rural America, a tragedy continues to unfold- the accidental death of our farm children.
Rural children are twice as likely to die in accidents as their urban counterparts.
Prevention efforts continue to be hampered by a lack of funding, manpower, and perceived need.1 In the '80s, agriculture became the leading industry for accidents, with 49 per 100,000 workers. Agriculture has also witnessed the greatest proportional increase in fatalities of any occupation, even though the number of farm workers has decreased. Agriculture has high accident rates for several reasons, most notably, working under adverse conditions, such as mud, snow, temperature extremes. In addition, spouses, children, and relatives may work on the farm often without regard for their competency, training, and safety. As a result, agriculture also has the highest incidence of death of children.