2000 Childhood Agricultural Injuries on Minority -Operated Farms

United States
Department of
Agriculture
National
Agricultural
Statistics
Service

Sp Cr 9 (02)

2000 Childhood
Agricultural Injuries
On Minority-Operated Farms
December 2002

U.S. Agricultural-Related Injuries to Youth Under 20 Years Old
On Minority-Operated Farms in 2000
The National Picture
During 2000, there were 530 agricultural-related injuries that occurred to youth under the age of 20
who lived on, worked on, or visited a farm operated by an individual from a racial minority group.
The four racial minority groups are Asian, Black, Native American and Other. During the same
year, there were 366 agricultural-related injuries that occurred to youth under the age of 20 who
lived on, worked on, or visited a farm operated by an individual who is Hispanic. Hispanic
information is presented separately because it is considered to be an ethnic group and not a race.
However, there is overlap between the racial and Hispanic information (i.e., an operator may be
both a racial and an ethnic minority, and be represented in both estimates). These findings are the
result of a telephone survey of 50,000 minority farms and ranches across the U.S. conducted by the
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) for the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH). Farm operators were asked questions on any injuries to youth less than 20
years of age that occurred on their farm in the year 2000. An injury was defined as any condition
occurring on the farm operation resulting in at least 4 hours of restricted activity.
There were an estimated 416,000 youth (Working and Non-Working) reported on 47,658 racial
minority operated farms in the Survey. All minority-operated farm counts were based on totals
from the 1997 Census of Agriculture. Among Working and Non-Working youth, the U.S. injury
rate across all racial minority-operated farms was 1.3 injuries per 1,000 youth, or 11.1 injuries per
1,000 farms. There was an average of 8.7 Working and Non-Working youth on each racial
minority-operated farm during the year.
On the 27,717 Hispanic-operated farms, there were an estimated 288,000 youth (Working and
Non-Working) reported in the survey. There were 1.3 injuries per 1,000 youth to Working and
Non-Working youth on Hispanic-operated farms, or 13.2 injuries per 1,000 farms. There was an
average of 10.4 Working and Non-Working youth on each Hispanic-operated farm during the
year.
There was an estimated total of 34,500 youth, under the age of 20, working on racial minorityoperated farms in 2000. A total of 200 injuries was incurred by these working youth, for a rate of
5.8 injuries per 1,000 working youth. There were 4.2 injuries to working youth per 1,000 farms
operated by an individual from a racial minority group. Each minority-operated farm had an
average of 0.7 working youth on it for the year 2000.
For Hispanic-operated farms, there were nearly 23,000 youth working in the year 2000. A total of
140 injuries was incurred by these working youth for a rate of 6.1 injuries per 1,000 working
youth. There were 5.1 injuries to working youth per 1,000 Hispanic-operated farms. Each
Hispanic-operated farm had an average of 0.8 youth working in the year 2000.

2000 Childhood Agricultural Injuries On Minority-Operated Farms
December 2002
1

Agricultural Statistics Board
NASS, USDA

Racial Group Breakdown (Working and Non-Working Youth)
Farms operated by Native Americans had the highest occurrence of injuries among Working and
Non-Working youth, with 2.1 injuries per 1,000 youth, while farms with Black operators had the
lowest incidence of injury to Working and Non-Working youth, at 0.7 injuries per 1,000 youth.
There were 25.0 injuries per 1,000 farms operated by Native Americans. This number was strongly
influenced by the higher concentration of Working and Non-Working youth on this particular
group of farms in comparison to the other racial minority groups. There was an average of 12.0
Working and Non-Working youths per "Native American operated" farm, while "Asian-operated"
farms had the lowest average of 5.3 Working and Non-Working youths per farm during the year.

Racial Group Breakdown (Working Youth Only)
Farms operated by Native Americans had the highest incidence of injury among working youth, at
7.9 injuries per 1,000 working youth. Farms with Asian operators had the lowest occurrence of
injury to working youth, with 2.4 injuries per 1,000 working youth.
Farms operated by Native Americans had the highest average of working youth per farm at 1.2, and
the highest average of injury per 1,000 farms at 9.2. In contrast, "Black-operated" farms had the
lowest average of working youth per farm at 0.5, with "Asian-operated" farms having the lowest
average of injury per 1,000 farms at 1.5.

*************
NIOSH, an agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sponsored this survey to
determine the frequency, incidence rate and characteristics of childhood injuries occurring on
minority-operated farms in the United States. A prior study was conducted in 1998 assessing
childhood injuries occurring in the general farm population in the U.S. The survey was conducted
as part of the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. For further information,
contact John Meyers, NIOSH, at (304) 285-6005 or Mark Aitken, NASS, at (202) 720-9525.

2000 Childhood Agricultural Injuries On Minority-Operated Farms
December 2002
2

Agricultural Statistics Board
NASS, USDA

U.S. Agricultural-Related Injuries to Youth Under 20 Years Old
On Minority-Operated Farms in 2000

Minority
Group 1

Total
Farms 2

Total
Population

3

Working & Non-Working Youth
Total
Total
Youth
Injuries 4
per Farm

Injuries
per 1,000
Youth

Injuries
per 1,000
Farms

Asian
Black
Native American
Other

8,731
18,451
10,638
9,838

46,465
147,573
127,947
94,103

5.3
8.0
12.0
9.6

50
102
266
112

1.1
0.7
2.1
1.2

5.7
5.5
25.0
11.4

Total

47,658

416,088

8.7

530

1.3

11.1

Hispanic

27,717

287,870

10.4

366

1.3

13.2

Minority
Group 1

Population

5

Working Youth Only
Total
Work
Injuries

Working
Youth
per Farm

Injuries
per 1,000
Youth

Injuries
per 1,000
Farms

Asian
Black
Native American
Other

5,315
8,693
12,359
8,158

0.6
0.5
1.2
0.8

13
43
98
46

2.4
4.9
7.9
5.6

1.5
2.3
9.2
4.7

Total

34,525

0.7

200

5.8

4.2

Hispanic
22,850
0.8
140
6.1
5.1
1
Operators of "Hispanic" descent could also have potentially been reported under any of the listed racial groups.
2
"Number of Farms" operated by individuals in the listed Minority Group, based on the 1997 Census of Agriculture.
3
Total youth population on minority-operated farms, including hired youth, visitors and relatives, whether Working or
Non-Working.
4
Includes Work-Related and Non-Work-Related injuries.
5
Total Working Youth on minority-operated farms, including relatives.

2000 Childhood Agricultural Injuries On Minority-Operated Farms
December 2002
3

Agricultural Statistics Board
NASS, USDA

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