News

Jul 11, 2023

Illinois farm fatalities on the decline

Agriculture Policy Editor Kevin Lilienthal can still feel the antifreeze

Agriculture Policy Editor

Kevin Lilienthal can still feel the antifreeze trickling down his leg.

The fluid, spilled from the crumpled radiator of his 1960s Farmall 504 that he used to spray a bean field, surrounded the McLean County farmer as he laid on the pavement, pinned by the overturned tractor.

In the ditch to his right sat a totaled minivan, the same vehicle that moments earlier collided with the rear of the tractor at 80 mph, shearing its left wheel from its axle and launching the machinery into a partial somersault.

"I had just started to come to a rise on a hill and started to pull over when I heard crunching metal, saw the van and knew the tractor was flipping forward," Lilienthal recounted to FarmWeek. "The next thing I knew the tractor went up in the air and came down on me. ... I’m lucky to be around."

Lilienthal, 59, walked away from the May 2018 accident with a cracked skull, a broken wrist and a contused leg. He agreed to share his story publicly for the first time to raise awareness amid National Farm Safety and Health Week.

Lilienthal's account is one of numerous examples of severe injuries stemming from the Illinois agricultural industry in the last two decades.

At least 510 fatal farm incidents were recorded from 1999 to 2019, according to a 2021 study completed by four Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering researchers at the University of Illinois.

During the last two years, at least 16 deaths related to farming were recorded — 11 in 2020 and five in 2021 — according to a FarmWeek analysis of news articles and data published by government agencies and universities. So far this year, there have been at least six.

Kevin Lilienthal had just finished spraying a bean field in rural McLean County when a minivan collided with the rear of his tractor at 80 mph, shearing its left wheel from its axle and launching the machinery into a partial somersault. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Lilienthal)

"In terms of agriculture, the rate of injuries we see has been pretty much constant from the 1990s. We’re seeing about on average 20 fatal incidents for every 100,000 workers," said Salah Issa, an assistant professor at the U of I who specializes in agricultural and industrial safety and health and was part of the 2021 study.

"However, the total number of incidents at the national level has been declining," Issa said in a recent FarmWeek interview. "In the early 1990's we averaged approximately 850 incidents per year. These days we average about 500 to 600 incidents per year."

The 2021 study further found a "considerable decline" in fatal incidents from a peak of 35 incidents in 2010 to 21 incidents in 2019.

Because no single government or academic source for Illinois non-fatal and fatal farming injuries exists, Issa said the data he and other researches have collected, although accurate, is likely an undercount.

But the data still holds value because it reveals the nature of the death or injury and who is experiencing it. And while data on non-fatal injuries is also difficult to collect, Issa said they are especially valuable because they can spotlight potential future deaths.

"It could be that a grain bin, a person gets trapped there multiple times over multiple years, but it's not fatal, so it's not reaching our attention," Issa explained. "But there's a problem there, and it's only a matter of time that a fatality will occur, right? So these near-misses are very good indicators for (future) injuries and fatalities."

Their study found that fatalities were the most common among people over the age of 45. A total of 181 victims were older than 65, followed by 173 victims between 45 and 64, and 63 victims under 24 years old, according to the study.

The closest explanation for fatalities concentrated among older individuals, Issa said, is the fact the average age of an Illinois farmer is 57 and there are more older farmers than younger ones.

But he said "there could be other demographic trends at bay that we’re not fully aware of yet."

Other trends in the data show that tractor-related (213), road-way-related (82) and grain bin (45) fatalities were the most common across the two decades, with 50% of all farm deaths in Illinois related to machinery.

FarmWeek found a similar trend in its analysis, with at least 15 of the estimated 22 total deaths since 2020 related to machinery.

Within the 213 machinery fatalities logged from 1999 to 2019, 98 deaths were caused by overturns, while colliding with another vehicle and being run over by tractor after falling off were the other leading causes.

At least 213 farm fatalities in Illinois were tractor-related and 82 fatalities were road-way-related from 1999 to 2019. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Lilienthal)

Issa further said incidents involving all-terrain vehicles are becoming "more significant" while incidents involving livestock have become "less significant than before."

Since 2012, Illinois has averaged around five fatal and non-fatal incidents each year related to confined spaces and grain bins, according to data assembled and published in annual reports by researchers at Purdue University.

The 2020 report found Illinois that year was the leading state for fatal and non-fatal confined space incidents (17), with 10 related to grain bin entrapment. In 2021, there were five total fatal and non-fatal entrapment cases in Illinois.

Asked by FarmWeek if the higher number of grain entrapment incidents reflects Illinois’ status as a top-grain-producing state, Issa said there is a potential correlation, but that any conclusion about a trend should take into consideration time and year-to-year randomness.

Another factor at play is awareness and reporting.

"When more people hear about certain types of incidents, they’re more aware, and then they’re more likely to report it," Issa said. "But how big of a role that plays, that's a question mark."

Rodney Knittel

Awareness and education also serve as vital tools for reducing the number of farm deaths and severe injuries, said Rodney Knittel, Illinois Farm Bureau's assistant director of transportation and infrastructure.

"Mr. Lilienthal is one of the blessed ones involved in a farm accident, he got to make it home to his family," Knittel said.

"Those involved in the agriculture industry must be proactive in safety and education. The only thing that we can really control is our own actions and safety practices," Knittel said. "With that said we all in agriculture need to continue educating the public of the hazards on the road in our communities."

Lilienthal's 2018 severe injury wasn't his first. The full-time field service technician was also involved in another on-road machinery incident.

That time, Lilienthal after raking hay with his vintage Farmall Model M was T-boned by a vehicle that was attempting to pass him as he was making a left-hand turn with the tractor.

Lilienthal said he gripped the steering wheel "just at the right time" so as to not be launched from the tractor, and was left with a "banged up ankle."

Even though they are the leading cause of farm fatalities, machinery could also be the solution to preventing deaths in the ag industry.

Salah Issa

Issa in a separate study analyzed fatality data alongside changes in safety practices, agricultural technology and production yields to find that "the majority of the reduction in injuries is more likely than not caused by engineering developments and yield improvements as well."

With that conclusion, however, comes a crossroads: the advancements in autonomous tractor technology and artificial intelligence could reduce machinery incidents, but yield boosting could increase other forms of injuries.

"In one sense that is a very positive development that we’re hoping it leads to safer farms, but at the same time we have to be aware that these technologies might bring their own issues and we have to understand these before we have a massive nationwide adoption of these technologies," Issa said.

As for Lilienthal, the solution lies in awareness.

"It's like when I ride my motorcycle, you watch out for the idiots," Lilienthal said. "Same thing on a tractor, you’ve got to constantly watch. And when you’re the one in the car, you’ve just gotta be patient. The tractor will move over."

Farmers and other ag professionals will discuss implications of digital ag technology at a workshop.

Agriculture Policy Editor