Trends and characteristics of occupational suicide and homicide in farmers and agriculture workers, 1992-2010.

The purpose of this paper was to review the occupational homicide and suicide statistics for farmers and agriculture workers and to identify victim characteristics and incident circumstances. The study found homicide rates for farmers and agriculture workers were lower than rates for total occupations for 14 years, while suicide rates for farmers and agriculture workers were consistently higher than total occupations. Significant regional variations in homicide and suicide patterns were identified. Finally, this study confirmed prior research in that males were most commonly victims of both occupational homicide and suicide when compared to females, while both male and female farmers and agriculture workers were most likely victims of homicide by firearms.