Agriculture in Illinois
Illinois is home to tens of thousands of farmworkers who contribute substantially to our state economy.
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Data Snapshot
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$ 19 bil. Generated by agricultural commodities, annually
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71,000 Farms in Illinois
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55,000 Farmworkers, 80% live in IL year round
About Illinois farmworkers
Illinois is a key producer of corn, soybeans, and hogs. But the state’s agriculture is diverse and includes many other crop, livestock, and greenhouse operations as well. Crop production happens seasonally, typically between April and December.
Some 55,000 hired migrant and seasonal farmworkers are employed in Illinois each year. Most (80%) live in Illinois year-round and shift into agricultural work in summer. “Follow the crop” workers are settled in the southern US and migrate north with the growing/harvest season. And “shuttlers” come across the border, often utilizing the H2A visa, a temporary work visa specific to agricultural work. Mainly, they come from Mexico and Central America.
State Maps
This series of maps displays data from the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH). For more data like this, including data for other states, visit the NCFH website.
For an interactive version of these maps with a pointer hover function, please download the dataset HERE.
Farmworkers per county
Estimated number of farmworkers per county
Lowest: 49 (Hardin)
Highest: 1,663 (McHenry)
Mean: 578.6
Median: 487.5
Farmworkers and dependents per county
Estimated number of farmworkers and their dependents per county
Lowest: 116 (Hardin)
Highest: 3,941 (McHenry)
Mean: 1,336.2
Median: 1,121
Farmworkers and dependents by population
Estimated number of farmworkers and their dependents per 1,000 people
Lowest: 0.3 (Cook)
Highest: 211.1. (Putnam)
Mean: 54.1
Median: 47.0
Conference Presentations & Posters
Development of a Comprehensive Agriculture Injury and Illness System in Illinois, USA
Presented by Dana Madigan, Lee Friedman, Jocelyn Faydenko, and Linda Forst at the 34th International Congress on Occupational Health
Blog Posts
Media Coverage
U of I Dissecting Farm Injury Data
FarmWeek talks to Dr. Salah Issa about the Center’s project to improve data tracking of agricultural injuries in Illinois. Data have revealed that a large number of reported fatalities involved tractors.
Academic Publications
Pesticide Report
The Pesticide Exposure & Illness Surveillance Report summarizes information gathered from calls made to the Illinois Poison Center for human exposure to pesticides through the National Poison Data System (NPDS). Starting with data collected in 2018, this report includes demographic characteristics of the persons exposed, reasons for exposure, temporal and spatial patterns, and clinical outcomes. NPDS allows for near real-time capture of data since all 55 US poison centers (PCs) automatically upload their case data to NPDS. The IPC database is a compilation of all the calls received by center staff during the year. Based on the analysis, pesticide exposures continue to commonly occur in Illinois, with most exposures occurring within residences through ingestion. Furthermore, exposures at the workplace occur principally through the inhalational and dermal routes. Surveillance of pesticide exposures is fragmented and captured by many different data systems. A centralized repository with mandatory reporting would also be useful in informing prevention and intervention efforts.
- From 2018-2021, the number of Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls involving human exposures to pesticides decreased by nearly 17% (n=2,152 in 2018 to n=1,793 in 2021).
- 48% of people exposed to pesticides in Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls were under the age of 5
- Approximately 1/3 of all work-related exposures identified in Illinois Poison Center (IPC) calls occurred in adults 25-34 years of age
From 2018-2021, 296 exposures were of moderate severity, 16 major severity, and 4 resulted in death.
Vehicle Crash Report
The Agricultural Vehicle Crash Surveillance Report summarizes information gathered from police accident reports (PARs; also referred to as police crash reports) reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the Illinois Crash Information System (CIS). Starting with data collected in 2018, this report includes common descriptors and reasons for crashes, vehicle-specific data for agricultural vehicles involved in crashes, demographic characteristics of people involved in agricultural-related vehicle crashes, and temporal and spatial patterns using the CIS. Based on this analysis, agricultural-related vehicle crashes are common in Illinois, with reported crashes widely distributed across the state. Most crashes occurred during months when planting (May/June) and harvesting (September to November) occur, demonstrating seasonality in collision incidents. Additionally, workdays saw higher crash totals compared to weekends, with Monday through Wednesday seeing the highest crashes. While the number of agricultural-related crashes accounts for a small subset of the total number of crashes seen in Illinois, these incidents may be underreported, and the severity of these types of crashes may also be greater due to the nature of the vehicles or machinery involved. Therefore, greater surveillance efforts are vital to comprehensively describe agriculture vehicle crash characteristics, including their prevalence and severity.
- From 2018 to 2023, the total number of crashes involving agricultural vehicles decreased from 622 in 2018 to 501 in 2020 and 2023, with a slight increase seen in 2021 (n=518).
- The point of first contact was the front of agricultural vehicles in 12.2% of crash cases compared to 20.8% of non-agricultural vehicles, indicating that many of the collisions involve the agricultural vehicle getting rear-ended by a second vehicle.
The months with the highest instances of crashes were September (10.4%), October (16.3%), November (12.0%), and June (10.8%).
Employment Data Manual
This manual is part of a series of guides to find farmworkers in existing health and employment databases in Illinois. Its focus is on employment data. Click the link to view and download this resource.
Injury Data Manual
This manual is part of a series of guides to find farmworkers in existing health and employment databases in Illinois. Its focus is on injury data. Click the link to view and download this resource.
Additional Publications
Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Epidemiologic Studies. Annual Report: Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry, July 2021 through June 2022. 2023. https://dph.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idph/files/publications/2022-illinois-health-and-hazardous-substances-registry-annual-report.pdf
Walker J, Forst L, Friedman L. Injuries among Hispanic/Latinx agricultural workers seen in Illinois hospitals. J Agromedicine. 2024;29: 246-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2023.2293826