Bull attack on NC dairy farmer just one risk among most dangerous US jobs

Farming can be a dangerous job, killing workers each year at over twice the rate of police and firefighters and four times that of all other workers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

An Alamance County dairy farmer left intensive care Sunday night, one week after a Black Angus bull smashed his ribs, punctured his lungs and broke his bones.

Randy Lewis, the 62-year-old owner of Ran-Lew Dairy in Eli Whitney, was in the pasture on his farm May 7 when the bull attacked him, according to dairy staff.

He was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where he had surgery to repair five broken ribs, according to GoFundMe campaign updates. He was moved to a step-down unit at the hospital Sunday, and on Monday, he started physical therapy.

On Tuesday, Lewis was moved into a regular hospital room.

Dairy staff and over 200 volunteers are keeping the farm going in his absence, and more are needed, a farm volunteer said Monday. The fifth-generation family farm has about 50 cows, including Holsteins, Guernseys, Jerseys and Brown Swiss, its website says.

Lewis is among 2.6 million people who worked on a farm in 2021, or about 1.3% of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 133 agricultural workers were killed that year.

Statistics often group agriculture with other “natural resources” industries — logging, hunting and fishing — making the combined category the nation’s most dangerous, with a rate of 20 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers in 2021, the bureau reported.

That was nearly five times the 3.6 deaths per 100,000 workers reported in all other fields, BLS officials said.

About two-thirds of the farm workers killed in 2021 were age 55 and older, they said in a separate report.

The biggest risks for agricultural workers involved transportation, especially accidents between cars and slower-moving farm vehicles. It’s common for tractors to also overturn, especially in bumpy fields and pastures, and machines and animals can be unforgiving around farmers who make a mistake or slip and fall.

Last year, Penn State researchers found farm-related injuries sent more than 60,000 people to emergency rooms between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2019. Roughly a third of those injuries involved people under age 18, according to the study conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Institute of Food and Agriculture.

But the data is limited because many farm injuries go unreported, researchers said. Injuries that most often send farm workers to the hospital involve fractures, open wounds and amputations, the Penn State report noted.

Accidents bring challenges, help available

Other risks are less obvious, like vaccination needle sticks and exposure to sun, weather, chemicals and livestock medicines, stress, and mental and behavioral health issues, said Alyssa Spence. Spence is an N.C. State University expert in agromedicine, farm safety and health and an N.C. Cooperative Extension agent who leads farm safety workshops in eastern North Carolina.

She noted that between 95% and 98% of North Carolina’s farms are family owned, whether they produce and sell their own goods or raise livestock or crops on contract with large companies.

An accident can keep a farmer from working and paying the bills, but the financial, emotional and mental effects also hit other family members. Another challenge is the insurance gap that requires paying medical bills out of pocket, she said.

A myriad of state, federal and university-based health and safety programs are available to help farmers and farm workers, she said, noting the N.C. Agromedicine Institute’s Farm to Fit program for families and workers.

Others include the First on Scene program that teaches how to respond to farm accidents or medical emergencies, and the Certified Safe Farm program that offers comprehensive on-farm safety reviews and health screenings.

“We are not a one size fits all type of health resource,” Spence said about the state’s network of programs. “We look at everybody on an individual basis. We’re not advocacy, we’re not regulation. We’re just here to help farmers.”

Other public and private programs include the N.C. Farm Bureau’s Rollover Protective Structure Incentive Program, or ROPS, which provides members with grants to buy tractor rollover bars and seatbelts.

One in 10 farmers will overturn a tractor in their lifetime, according to University of Missouri agriculture extension experts. However, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates indicate that equipping a tractor with a rollover bar and seatbelts can reduce the risk of death from about 40% to 2% of all accidents, they said.

The more common scenario is a collision between a farm tractor and a non-farm vehicle, which comprises roughly 82% of the state’s farm tractor crashes and is more likely to be fatal, N.C. Farm Bureau officials reported.

There were 143 crashes involving a farm tractor in North Carolina in 2021, according to the state Division of Motor Vehicles. Two people were killed and 49 more were injured, the NCDMV reported.

Risks are part of the job

Getting on the highway is the biggest risk he has faced as a farmer, said Randall Smith, the fourth generation of his family to operate Smith Angus Farm in Snow Camp. Sometimes, accidents occur from just being in a hurry or losing your balance, or the unexpected nature of working with animals, he said.

“Randy Lewis knows cows as good as anybody,” Smith said.

Smith raises about 70 cattle and transitioned in the last decade to breeding instead of producing beef for sale. The work involves parentage, DNA and other markers, and disposition is a huge part of that, he said.

More aggressive bulls can be sold for meat at a young age, and “mama cows,” especially with newborns, “are probably worse than bulls,” Smith said, but farm livestock are not pets.

Angus cattle are a Scottish breed without horns and known for an easygoing temperament. A cow weighs 1,200 to 1,500 pounds, and a bull is 1,800 to 2,400 pounds, he said. It’s easy to let your guard down around the tamer bulls and cows, he said.

“We try to breed for more docile animals, but when you’re dealing with something that big, they can hurt you without trying to hurt you,” Smith said. “If you get them in a tight spot, just them moving their body could put you in a bad spot.”

Lewis’ accident is a “terrible situation,” Smith said, but farmers accept the risk because they love farming.

“I enjoy messing with cows, and I’m sure Randy definitely enjoys it, as long as he’s been doing it,” Smith said. “It’s just something that gets in you, and you’re going to continue to do it if there’s any way you can.”

Volunteers needed; fundraiser planned

Volunteers will be needed to keep Ran-Lew Dairy going, probably for months after Lewis comes home, farm staff said. Upcoming fundraisers include a June 3 Chicken Plate Dinner and Bluegrass Music fundraising event at The Barn at Lloyd’s Dairy in Efland.

The GoFundMe goal was increased last week from $115,000 to $195,000 after it became “clear that the costs are going to exceed our initial estimate,” according to the campaign page. It had raised nearly $165,000 by Monday afternoon.

Ran-Lew staff declined The News & Observer’s request for an interview, but provided a statement thanking the farm’s supporters.

“The volunteer support has been immense and a huge asset to the farm. We’ve had folks show up every day of the week to help us out, and that’s been an incredible support and we’re extremely grateful to the community for coming together,” the statement said.