A farm safety surchargeon food: An agricultural safety policy proposal

Even though agriculture is one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations, it is relatively ignored by federal occupational safety efforts. The federal budget deficit makes adequate funding of new federal agricultural safety programs unlikely. This paper proposes that a new federal agricultural safety program should be developed, with the funding coming from a value added surcharge on the farm value of food. Hie costs to consumers would be negligible (only $1.88 per year per family) but such a surcharge would be equitable and would generate over $48 million annually for agricultural safety programs. Several key elements for any new federal agricultural safety program are then discussed.