Injuries, illnesses, and deaths in agriculture, 2015–19

There were 410 fatal workplace injuries in the private crop production and animal production and aquaculture industries in 2019. These deaths accounted for 7.7 percent of the 5,333 workplace deaths in all industries in 2019. The fatal injury rate in 2019 for crop production workers was 17.4 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. The rate was 22.2 for animal production and aquaculture workers. The fatal injury rate for all private sector workers was 3.8.

In 2019, workers age 65 and older accounted for 41.6 percent of the 221 fatal injuries in the crop production industry and 36.0 percent of the 189 fatal injuries in the animal production and aquaculture industry. Workers age 65 and older accounted for 15.0 percent of the fatal injuries for all private industry.

The number of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work in crop production and animal production and aquaculture industries totaled just over one percent of all days-away-from-work cases in the private sector in 2019. For crop production workers, the incidence rate for days-away-from-work cases was 1.4 cases per 100 full-time workers. For workers in animal production and aquaculture, the rate was 2.1 cases per 100 full-time workers. The incidence rate for all private sector workers was 0.9.

Workers age 65 and older accounted for 8.1 percent of the nonfatal injuries and illnesses involving days away from work in the crop production industry and 2.1 percent of cases in the animal production and aquaculture industry. For all private industry, workers age 65 and older accounted for 5.3 percent of days-away-from-work cases.

These data are from the Injuries, Illness, and Fatalities program. For more information, see “Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses — 2019” and “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2019.”