UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Last year, 19 people died of injuries suffered in farm-related incidents in Pennsylvania, according to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This was the same number of people who died of similar farm-related injuries in 2024.
The Penn State Agricultural Safety and Health Program, housed in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and affiliated with Penn State Extension, releases the “Pennsylvania Farm Fatal Injury Summary” each year. Researchers and extension educators use these data to identify hazards in agricultural production and guide the development of training and resources with the goal of making farms safer.
Starting this year, the team is offering a new program: a farm safety walkthrough. This is an individualized program that includes a farm visit to help farmers identify hazards on their operation and develop mitigation strategies to support safer working conditions for everyone on the farm. This program is offered strictly for educational purposes and is not regulatory or enforcement-based. This program is offered to farmers in Pennsylvania at no cost.
Florence Becot, Nationwide Insurance Early Career Professor and SSRI affiliate, who leads agricultural safety and health programs at Penn State and lead author of the annual report, explained that agricultural fatalities can vary widely from year to year, and reported fatalities likely capture only a portion of the problem. It is possible that not all of the agricultural-related fatalities were identified. She also emphasized that nonfatal injuries are even more difficult to track, even if these injuries can significantly impact the victim and their loved ones.
The victims in 2025 were from 14 counties across the state. Three counties reported more than one death: Lancaster, Butler and Franklin.
In line with previous years and national data, more than 80% of the victims were male. An estimated 31% of victims were from the Anabaptist community.
Over a third of the victims were between the ages of 45 and 64, while over a quarter were 65 and older.
“Notably, the distribution differed from prior years, with a higher proportion of fatalities among middle-aged individuals and lower rates among the youngest children,” Becot said.
In 2025, 79% of the victims actively were working at the time of injury, and all but one regularly worked on the farm. Eleven percent were nonworkers — all children under the age of 10.
Off-road and industrial vehicles continue to be the leading source of fatalities in Pennsylvania, as almost half of the fatalities involved this type of equipment. These incidents included tractor rollovers, other tractor incidents, skid steer rollovers, being struck by skid steers or forklifts, and an all-terrain vehicle crash. Tractor overturn fatalities most often happen when tractors do not have a rollover protection structure.
The next most frequent types of events were due to compression or contact with equipment, objects or buildings.
Over one third of the fatalities occurred this way, including being struck, crushed or trapped by a piece of machinery, silo collapse, and tree/limb falls.
Three fatalities were due to a horse kick, silo gas and a roadway collision with a tractor.
“While we do our best to identify all fatalities, we recognize that some fatalities may be missing,” Becot said. “This is particularly the case as newspapers, which have been a primary source of information, have decreased in number in rural areas.”
Becot can be reached at florence.becot@psu.edu or 814-865-1783 to report or confirm data.
The Penn State Agricultural Safety and Health program was established in 1976 to support the health, safety and well-being of agricultural communities through research, extension and teaching.
Penn State Extension offers nearly 200 articles and videos on the agricultural safety and health website, covering a wide range of topics, such as animal handling, farm equipment safety, disaster preparedness, personal protective gear and child safety.
The team regularly collaborates with a range of organizations to deliver presentations and training. They also offer individualized farm safety assistance by phone, email or in-person; safe equipment and machinery operation training for youth through the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program; and training for first responders and farm workers looking to build safety and preparedness for farm emergencies.
Those interested in participating in the farm safety walkthrough program should contact Justin Darlington, education program specialist in agricultural safety and health, at jjd6342@psu.edu or 814-863-0234.