Purdue University’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program has been monitoring farm-related fatalities in Indiana for nearly 60 years. The earliest identified summary of cases, published in 1966, examined 76 fatalities reported during 1963. Purdue’s fatality database, though acknowledged as not being comprehensive of all farm-related deaths, provides a unique historical perspective to explore trends that have occurred over several decades.

The annual Indiana Farm Fatality summaries are compiled from published news reports, web searches, voluntary reporting from Extension educators and others, and voluntary feedback from witnesses, family, or responders. In Indiana, there is no requirement to report farm-related injuries or fatalities to a central location. There is no claim made that the summaries are comprehensive of all farm-related fatalities, but rather represent the best assessment available.