Sask. farmer with shoulder pain? The doctor would like to see you

Feb 05, 2024

Dr. Angelica Lang is studying how producers move

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A researcher from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is looking for Saskatchewan farmers with sore shoulders to participate in a study about how producers move.

“The initial focus is looking at the postural exposures (movement requirements) farmers experience at work,” Dr. Angelica Lang, an associate professor at the Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health at the USask’s College of Medicine, told Farms.com.

Dr. Lang also wants to connect with farmers who don’t have shoulder pain.

This will allow her team to define the movements, compare those to farmers with pain and make other comparisons along the way.

“We’ll look at sex, to see if women do things differently than men,” she said. “And for people who already have pain, we want to know if they’re moving differently than the people without pain. This can help us understand why injuries might be happening.”

This research emerged from a previous study Dr. Lang ran.

Angelica Lang
Dr. Angelica Lang (USask photo).

In 2022, she and Dr. Kenzie Friesen, a postdoctoral scholar in the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre at the University of Calgary, surveyed Saskatchewan farmers and farm workers about pain, typical daily tasks and if any of those tasks were difficult or resulted in discomfort.

That study showed that 75 per cent of respondents experienced shoulder pain or discomfort over the last five years.

“We looked at the whole body, but the shoulder had some interesting results,” Lang said. “People with shoulder pain reported they had trouble lifting overhead but also below the waist. And operating different machinery caused discomfort for their shoulders. And people provided us examples of the movements they were doing.”

These movements helped guide what Dr. Lang and her team will study in this most recent research.

Producers who volunteer will receive a visit from members of Dr. Lang’s team to their home farm for about an hour.

Volunteers will wear sensors on their shoulders and other parts of their bodies and perform typical daily tasks like lifting seed bags, shoveling, or throwing hay bales.

The sensors measure the orientation, or angle, of the specific body part, Lang said.

Previous research indicated working at arm elevations of 90 degrees or more for more than 10 per cent of a work shift can double the risk of developing a shoulder injury.

Lang wants to visit at least 50 farms for this research.

Once all the data is collected and examined, the next step in the process is to create a resource for farmers.

“I hope the resource can include really targeted recommendations for farmers based on what we’ve measured,” she said. “If we find one task is particularly high risk for the way a farmer’s shoulder blades or arms move, we can provide recommendations to help them be in a better physical position to complete those tasks.”

Dr. Lang is also running another study related to agriculture.

This one involves the “Rotopod” farm equipment simulator at the University of Saskatchewan.

The machine simulates staying seated in a piece of equipment for multiple hours. While in it, Dr. Lang’s team examines how the vibrations from the machinery affect farmers.

Any Saskatchewan farmers interested in participating in either one of Dr. Lang’s studies can send an email or call 306-966-5544.

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.