Pre-Survey Letter

U nited States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Dear [insert farm operator name]:

Agriculture-related injuries to youth under 20 years of age on United States farms have decreased from 13.5 injuries per 1,000 farms in 2001 to 7.2 injuries per 1,000 farms in 2009. In 2009, there were 15,876 injuries to youth who lived on, worked on, or visited a farm in the United States compared to 29,277 in 2001, 27,591 in 2004, and 22,894 injuries in 2006. In 2004, there were 464 deaths and 80,300 injuries that occurred to adults over the age of 19 while working on farms and ranches in the US. These findings are based on a series of telephone surveys of farms conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

To better understand the causes of these injuries, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) an agency with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), an agency with the United States Department of Agriculture, are conducting a survey to collect information on injuries to youth and adults that occurred on farms or ranches during 2011.

The goals of this survey are to: estimate the number of youth injuries occurring on farms or ranches in the US in 2011; estimate the number of adult work-related injuries occurring on farms or ranches in the US in 2011; and to document the type of events that lead to these injuries. The enclosed brochure shows some of the results from a similar survey for youth and adult farm injuries that occurred from 2003 to 2007. The summary statistics from this new survey will be used by such groups as the USDA Extension Service and health organizations to develop programs and educational materials aimed at preventing on-farm injuries in the future. Your cooperation is needed to develop this database and the resulting summary statistics.

NASS will begin calling in August 2012 from one of their data collection centers. They will identify themselves as the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Under Title 7 of the U.S. Code and CIPSEA (Public Law 107-347), facts about your operation are kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes in combination with similar reports from other producers. Response is voluntary. All information identifying your operation will be removed before a database is presented to CDC.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. For more information on this survey, or to find results from similar studies, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/agriculture/ or call

(888) 424-7828.

Sincerely,

Hubert Hamer

Chairperson

NASS Agricultural Statistics Board