The 2018 Ag Proud article, "Getting a grip on tractor ergonomics for smaller-statured operators" came out after the 2017 Census of Agriculture categorized responses of 1.2 million female producers involved in or being the sole operator of a working farm in the U.S. At that time, the average age of female respondents was 57 years. Most, if not all, farm operators can relate to the difficulties women in particular encounter trying to use a bucket tractor or skid loader designed for a man who has a longer reach, higher grip strength and a much different way of engaging the safety seat power shut-off switch.

But it’s not just power-operated equipment that strains a woman’s bank account, glutes, back and shoulders. There is a lack of ergonomically designed hand tools specifically marketed to female operators. Let’s take a look at the data and diagnoses calling for such.

“In 2017, the United States had 1.2 million female producers, accounting for 36 percent of the country’s 3.4 million producers. More than half of all farms (56 percent) had a female producer. These female-operated farms accounted for 38 percent of U.S. agriculture sales and 43 percent of U.S. farmland.” —NASS, 2017_female_producers

RA: The CDC looked at doctor-diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other types in adults ages 45 to 64 for the years 2019 to 2021. For those of us working on the farm and incurring the expense of producing a four-legged farm commodity, it’s not surprising to know that 1 in 4 (26%) adults and 24.2% of women fall into this hand tool-limiting category. Arthritis-related joint limitations are the leading cause of worker disability. The results of a study on "Farming tasks and the development of rheumatoid arthritis in the Agricultural Health Study" (Occup. Environ Med., 2019 April) suggest several agricultural tasks and exposures may have contributed to rheumatoid arthritis in 49,000 self-reported pesticide applicator and spouse responses. However, that dataset was from study data between 1993-97. Since then, the bales and totes have gotten bigger, the shovel and hayfork handle sizes have not changed, but the number of women operator and worker hands handling same has easily tripled.

MSD: Extension professional Teagan Morgan of Oregon State University wrote "A look at the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and how the science of ergonomics can help" in 2018. Like myself, she was lamenting a unisex issue that limits range of motion and is more than likely the real cause of occupation stress, dissatisfaction and quitting the agriculture sector job or exiting the industry entirely. The diagnosis is a lumped-in category called musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). Global cases of such are predicted to increase by 115% in the next two decades. For an industry starving for a fit workforce, the 123% increase in pains of this nature since the 1990s (Lancet Rheumatology, Oct. 23, 2023) is reason to pause and take stock of your toolshed items.

Having farmed my whole life, sprayed pesticides half my career and driven tractor for most of the same, I can attest that musculoskeletal aches and pains have been a season-long companion as a female agriculture worker. Chiropractic care, where many farmworkers go for repair, is expected to increase by 26% in the next decade (Grandview Research). I wonder how many clients of this $450 million industry are farmworkers with an ergonomic hand tool grip gripe? I also wonder what percentage of the projected $146 billion massage therapy market growth is deep-tissue therapy for farm-related, outdoor-related musculoskeletal strain. Long-COVID-19 muscle pain is also probably a big driver of this segment of the human health care industry growth.

“Through systematic literature review, it was found that along with the usage and design of hand tools, factors like a repetitive task, awkward postures, forceful exertion, vibration and exposure to hot weather are mainly responsible for the work-related injuries. … Back pain, shoulder pain and cervical pain are the most frequent occurring MSDs in farmers …” —Ergonomics for Design and Innovation, 2022, Volume 39

Studies: In 2021, a group of researchers looked at the "Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the agricultural workers: a review." The conference paper was published in Ergonomics for Design and Innovation. Humanizing Work and Work Environment: Proceedings of HWWE. There have been several studies around the world such as the "Farmers’ Cohort for Agricultural Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (FARM) Study" in Korea. And a few small participant studies here in the U.S. were conducted in 2012 like "Work-related musculoskeletal discomfort of dairy farmers and employed workers" and "Agricultural work and chronic musculoskeletal pain among Latino farm workers: the MICASA Study" and others over the years. However, in my reading experience, this type of dataset rarely makes it into the daily agriculture news reviews.

Here is my own look at one "hand tool" category that could use a design change, from a single, short-statured woman farm operator’s perspective.

Fence-building hand tool design limitations

Shovels: D-handle shovels (spades and diggers) are generally the right height with the handle near the waistline for sod-cutting jobs. But those round-handle shovels are shoulder-height and imbalanced at the center of gravity where short-statured hands want to be for repetitive lifting. The one-size-fits-all shovel handles of today’s market choice are not my go-to for repetitive agriculture digging jobs.

Post-hole digger: I have yet to find a post-hole digger that has an ergonomically correct handle height-thickness and angle for the best closure grip. First and foremost, smaller hands need to be able to grip around the handle at the height that gives the most optimum output without hitting the operator in the face because the handles are too long.

Fence pliers: Crescent-style fence pliers are generally too long-handled for small-handed individuals to generate enough down-pressure to cut high-tensile barbwire and higher-gauge wire. If I am doing a lot of fence, I resort to "stomping" the cutter to save my hands. A better option is the "Gallagher"-style plier, but only if the plier grip opening matches up to hands with a 6-inch grip action.

Fence staple hammer: Years ago, I interviewed two hammer collectors for a story. Quite the bicentennial collection they had. I can tell you that very few farm-available hammers are balanced for a woman’s hand size and striking pattern nowadays. The ones that are – well, they are generally not found in the aisles of hardware and farm stores.

Fence come-a-long: I use a generic "come-a-long" for fencing, as it works well with my three-wheeled reliable farm assistant, a D-14 with a chain hook mounted on the front. However, the thumb-release action distance on a standard come-a-long is too long for a 2-inch-length thumb to compress. Barbwire pullers are too wide in the grip for maximum tension achievement. Figure-eight knot proficiencies aside, I use a smaller hand plier to make a tight termination knot because I lack the hand strength to repetitively wrap and twist off heavy-gauge galvanized wire.

Battery-operated drill: While a great addition to the tool barn, the grip strength needed to engage the trigger with one hand while holding the drill level with the other is more fatiguing than using a 9/16th-long wrench with two hands for leverage or using an old-fashioned bore-hole crank with the round knob.

Chainsaw: Not everyone is comfortable using a chainsaw when fencing, but it would be a whole lot easier if the choke-action needed to start the engine matched up with different arm reaches. The same goes for just about any cord-pull small engine in my experience. Why? Because men (designers and end-use target audience) are, in general, taller, have broader shoulders and a longer "wing" span than their fence post-notching female counterparts.

Barbwire spool: I get it; it’s economical to spool on so much. But not if your workforce can’t lift or carry it comfortably on rough terrain. It may not be OSHA sense, but it’s common sense that if more women are farming and more women are fencing, the bulk weight of barbwire spools could be adjusted accordingly. Especially here in the East, where we rarely go 800 feet, let alone a quarter-mile (1,320 feet of a standard spool) before we cut and set a brace.

As the fencing season progresses, I encourage everyone to spend some time retrofitting their toolshed stock to include choices that fit the million female producers and expanding female workforce who are surely lending a hand, if not two. For the ladies out there reading this article, I encourage you to shop around and "tool up" your own stock of hand tools that best fit your grip strength, height and musculoskeletal frame. Talk to your doctor about the benefits of professional musculoskeletal physical therapy or deep-tissue massage therapy to work out those knots. Maybe in the next census we will see some data on the growth of on-farm services to address this growing need. While this industry is booming, very few have office hours available on weekends or evenings. And we all know farming is a sunup to sundown and then some occupation.