Abstract
Each farmer in the United States feeds 132 other people. What an astounding accomplishment! Americans indeed live in the land of plenty, yet each year, an estimated 195,825 lost time work injuries occur on U.S farms, and 5.2% of these injuries result in permanent injury (Myers, 2001). Each year, more than 100 children who live or work on farms die from a farm related injury (Rivara, 1997). Each year agriculture vies with mining, transportation, and construction for the top spot as the nation’s deadliest industry (National Safety Council, 2002). The focus on large scale industry and organized labor places the nearly 2 million farms in the shadow of more highly regulated industries.