Wisdom Comes With Age

OTTAWA - Apr 11/07 - SNS -- Statistics Canada has found that on farms, with age comes wisdom, and an solid reduction in the number and severity of injuries.

Farm operators aged 55 and over were less likely in 2001 to have reported a farm injury than those in younger age categories, contrary to what is usually expected in the industry. In fact, operators younger than 35 were more likely to have a farm injury.

The results suggest that know-how from farming experience may more than offset the effect of the aging process on the probability of having a farm injury.

The study examined the relationship between the likelihood of a farm operator suffering a farm-related injury and the characteristics of the farm and the farm operator. It was based on data from the 2001 Census of Agriculture.

Exposure to farm work, such as working on a farm with a sizable beef cattle herd and those with a large area under cultivation, increased the probability of farm injury. Operators of poultry and field crop farms were less likely than other farm types to suffer a farm-related injury.

The study also looked at the relationship between reported farm injury and the amount of hours an operator worked on and off the farm. The results showed that operators working fewer than 20 hours per week on the farm were 2.4 times more likely to report a farm injury than those working more than 40 hours per week on the farm.

Similarly, operators working off the farm for more than 40 hours per week were more likely to get injured while doing farm-related activities than those working fewer hours per week off-farm.

On May 16, 2007, the release of the 2006 Census of Agriculture results will enable new analysis on the topic of farm-related injuries. It will provide different but more detailed information on farm injuries. The census asked respondents to report farm injuries requiring medical attention for operators, other family members and other persons by type of injury.