Frequently Asked Questions

Thursday, March 28, 2024

FAQs

At times, I may come across a report that doesn't appear to be related to production agriculture. Why?

We provide news and notification, not analyses. At the guidance of our Steering Committee and external collaborators, we tend to be inclusive, and let others decide for their own analyses. Anything we exclude is gone, and might not ever be discovered by others who may want to know about the case. *If we’re not sure – we tend to include it. Further, we do not have the staffing or resources to investigate every case for follow-up details. AND - we also include Commercial Fishing and Forestry cases.

What do the pins represent on the Home page's interactive map?

Every published report in the current result set is represented as a pin on the map (note a single incident may have multiple reports linked to it). The location of the pin on the map is determined by the location details of the publication (e.g. state, county, or city).

When and how are terminologies and search criteria for data collection updated?

Agricultural technology and production practices are ever-changing. To stay abreast of recent advances in the industry, the data collection team periodically reviews and revises the AgFF relatedness definitions and documented system inclusion/exclusion regularly with input from our a 15-member national steering committee.

What is the "NFMC"

The National Farm Medicine Center was established in 1981 in response to occupational health problems seen in farm patients coming to Marshfield Clinic. The center continues to focus its research and outreach on rural populations. Current safety and health priorities include children, agritourism, beginning farmers and ranchers, and injury surveillance. Farm Center scientists and staff address these issues with special expertise in injury prevention, public health, bioinformatics, nursing, anthropology, education and communications. Since 1997, the National Farm Medicine Center has been home to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety. Visit site

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What are "Reports", "Incidents", and "Victims"?

filter results set. Note that there can be multiple victims per incident.

Are grain engulfment cases coded as "suffocation"?

Yes, our team's decision has been to code grain engulfment/entrapment incidents as suffocation, unless otherwise described in the original report.

Where is the pre-2018 data?

Our team has loaded and coded the 2018 cases and are working to do the same with 2015-2017

What's the best way to get back to the filtered result list after drilling into a specific report?

We suggest Right-clicking on the report you’re interested in and then clicking on “Open in new tab” … then when you close that new tab, you’ll still have the sorted/filtered list of results available to you. We’ve found this to be a helpful trick.

How do you define "farm"? And how does that affect inclusion or exclusion of reports?

Our team defers to the USDA definition of a farm - a place that sold, or would have sold, at least $1000 worth of agricultural products. We recognize the great variability in size and scope of agricultural operations, and the complexity of identifying very small farms. The collection and inclusion of reports will often involve group discussion, leaning on external partners and Steering Committee members. However, please note that we do not currently have the capacity to investigate every case and provide follow-up or detailed explanations of the circumstances for all cases. We always welcome and encourage the input and feedback from any of the system's users. If you find an error or any data that needs updating, please connect with us.

How is this paid for?

Funding support was provided through the National Farm Medicine Center's donor support via the Auction of Champions annual fundraiser event, the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America (ASHCA), the Dean Emanuel Endowment, and the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety via the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH; grant number 5U54 OH009568).

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Why aren't there as many Canadian cases in the system?

We launched our partnership with the Canadian Ag Safety Association (CASA) in 2018. While that team has entered reports from prior years as well, the program hadn't been active as long as our main program in the U.S.

I'm not from the U.S., but would like our data in the system. Is that possible?

Anything is possible! Reach out to us and we'll talk through the scenario and the data to see if it would be a good fit for the program.

What about in-home injuries on the farmstead?

This dataset includes injuries resulting from encountering agriculture-related hazards. Injuries (fatal or non-fatal) resulting from naturally occurring health events or underlying conditions (e.g. heart attack, stroke), recreational activities, or home-related activities are not included.

How can we support your work on AgInjuryNews?

Send us an email or give us a call!

Have you published any of your data?

You bet! Please visit our "Learn More" page for details.

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Do you include horse-drawn buggy cases?

We continue to capture and load horse-drawn buggy injury reports in AIN, but will code the “Operation type” as “Unknown” rather than “Agriculture”, unless enough evidence is available to determine that the incident was an agricultural-related injury. The inclusion and availability of these types of cases is valuable for both ag safety and health stakeholders, as well as traffic and roadway safety researchers and other stakeholders. Our definition of "Horse-drawn / animal-drawn": includes any horse/animal drawn farm machines/implements or buggies as appropriate.