Agricultural Economics Department
Date of this Version
9-4-2002
Abstract
Agricultural workers comprise 6.6 percent of the Nebraska workforce; yet 33 percent of the Nebraska workplace fatalities from October 1, 2001- September 30, 2002 were agricultural related. This means that agricultural work related fatalities were 500 percent of agriculture’s proportionate share. Obviously, agriculture is a hazardous industry. Nonetheless, Nebraska statutes §48-106(2) states that “the following are declared not to be hazardous occupations . . . : employers of household domestic servants and employers of farm and ranch laborers . . . .” On July 26, 2002, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in Larsen v D B Feedyards, 264 Neb 483, that a cattle feedlot was not entitled to the farm and ranch laborer exemption where 50-75 percent of the cattle in the feedlot were being custom-fed. This newsletter discusses impact of the Larsen decision on Nebraska worker compensation law for agricultural producers.
Comments
Published in Cornhusker Economics, 09/04/2002. Produced by the Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
http://www.agecon.unl.edu/Cornhuskereconomics.html