How common are farm deaths in Pennsylvania? Here’s how many occurred in recent years
There was a 59% decrease in known farm and agricultural deaths from 2020 to 2021 in the Keystone State, according to the 2021 Pennsylvania Farm Fatal Injury Summary.
Penn State University’s Extension Ag Safety & Health program releases the summary annually.
There were 39 fatalities reported in 2020, according to the summary, and 16 were recorded in 2021. Of the 16 fatalities last year, six involved a farm tractor and one involved a forklift. Other causes of fatal injury included a motorcycle collision, a fall from a horse-drawn carriage, an electrocution and falling tree branches.
One 65-year-old male died of asphyxiation due to silo gasses in 2021, the report said.
The 2021 summary is the latest available, though at least four farm fatalities have been reported in the state this year, including the latest deaths, which occurred Wednesday morning at a farm in Penns Valley.
A 47-year-old father, Andrew Beiler, and his two sons, ages 19 and 14, died of asphyxiation in due to silo gasses at an Amish farm in Potter Township, officials confirmed. Their deaths have been ruled accidental.
All the 16 people whose farm fatalities were reported in 2021 were male, and three were Anabaptist. Three of the victims were 4 years old or younger, and five were 65 years or older. Here’s the age distribution of 2021 victims:
Three victims ages 0 to 4
One victim age 10 to 19
One victim age 20 to 24
One victim age 25 to 34
Two victims ages 35 to 44
Two victims ages 45 to 54
One victim age 55 to 64
Five victims age 65 and older
“The Anabaptist community continues to suffer from relatively high fatality rates,” Penn State’s 2020 report says.
All victims under the age of 5 were Anabaptist in 2021, and four of the 39 deaths in 2020 were of Anabaptists. The religious sect of 22 of the 2020 victims was unidentified.
The Penn State report noted “the data we rely on is imperfect and some cases may have been missed by the Commonwealth death certificates system.” The summary cited farm-related death certificates from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, media reports of farm-related fatalities and Aginjurynews.org.
This story may be updated.
