WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Farm-related fatalities in Indiana were up nearly 40 percent in 2014. Despite the sharp increase, the number of people dying in farm-related accidents statewide remains significantly less than what used to occur since 1970 and beyond.

That’s according to a report issued by Purdue University, which also found the fatality rate on farms in Indiana in 2014 was far below the national rate. There were 25 fatalities in Indiana last year, compared to 18 the previous year.

On average, 17.5 out of 100,000 farm workers in Indiana were killed in 2014 compared to the estimated national rate of 25.4 for every 100,000 people engaged in agricultural production.

"Achieving zero incidents may be an unrealistic goal, but the record clearly shows that something is working, and that many tragic incidents have been prevented during the same time as Indiana farmers have become more productive and efficient than at any time in history," said the authors of the report, Bill Field, a Purdue safety specialist, and Yuan-Hsin Cheng, an agricultural and biological engineering graduate research assistant.

According to the report, eight of the Indiana fatalities in 2014 were the result of tractors overturning, while 16 involved some type of farm machinery. Other fatalities were caused by burning brush, barn fires, asphyxiation from smoke inhalation, a head injury from livestock, falling trees and an accidental drowning.

The findings also revealed 17 of the people killed were over the age of 60, continuing a trend of older farmers accounting for a disproportionate number of deaths related to agriculture. Indiana Farm Bureau (IFB) spokesman Andy Dietrick said deaths among older workers could keep rising as the average age of farmers continues to go up.

"It’s a fairly strenuous occupation and as you get older, maybe there needs to be more of a realization that you just can’t do the things that you used to do," he said.

Just two of the 2014 Indiana fatalities involved people under 21, an age bracket where farm-related deaths have been in decline for years, according to the findings released by the university’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program.

The report shows a disproportionate share of the fatalities the past few years have occurred on small farms, as the number of part-time and hobby farms that rely more on older machinery with fewer safety measures have increased.

The findings also show Elkhart and LaGrange counties have the highest number of farm-related deaths since 1970 in Indiana, with 28. That area has a heavy Amish population where it’s more common for children to work on the farm.

The Amish, known for more traditional farming practices, also might be less likely to implement new technology geared mostly toward keeping workers safe, Dietrick said. "If those safeguards that are part of the newer equipment aren’t being deployed in that population, it’s not going to be as effective."

Overall, the number of fatalities continues a downward trend, with Indiana having fewer than 30 farm-related accidents each year since 1996, while for two years between then and 1970 the numbers topped 50, according to the Purdue findings.

The record low for farm fatalities in Indiana is 8, set in 2006, but the death toll went back up to 24 in 2007, 28 in 2008 then back down to 20 in 2009, according to the researchers. Nationwide, farm-related deaths have reportedly gone up over the past decade or so in states like Iowa and Minnesota. In Ohio, though, deaths have gone down from 20 in 2004 to 11 in 2013, with only 2005, 2006 and 2010 having more than 20 farm fatalities each, according to figures obtained from The Ohio State University.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, the death rate on farms remains higher than other high-risk industries such as coal mining and construction, which in 2013 had death rates of 15.1 and 9.7 respectively. Dietrick also said there’s been a concerted effort over the years by IFB and others to educate the agriculture community about safety. "There’s just a lot of awareness that a lot of the things farmers do can be dangerous if you’re not paying attention to it at all times," he noted.