Health Concerns of Women in Agriculture in the Midwestern United States

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• Personal Author:
  Beseler, Cheryl L. ; Lutt, Megan ; Egbuchiem, Alex ; Duysen, Ellen G.
• Description:
  Objective: In 2022, the USDA Agricultural Census recognized that over one-third of agricultural producers in the United States were female. However, information on the health and safety needs of women working in agriculture is lacking. To help guide the direction of further research to understand the needs of women in agriculture, a brief survey was administered at a conference for agricultural women in the Midwest US. The goal was to understand the priority concerns and whether the concerns differed by age group or by occupational role. Methods: The survey was conducted in person with women attending a Women in Ag Conference in 2024. Participants were asked their age in six categories, whether they were directly involved in agriculture, and how concerned they were about nine health and safety topics using a 5-point Likert scale. Occupational role was determined by classifying the self-reported job description into five categories, academic/professional, academic/professional and agricultural operator, crop producer, livestock producer, and crop and livestock producer (n = 111). Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe the age distribution, occupational roles, and differences in concerns. Correspondence analysis was used to analyze and visualize frequency tables. Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests, and logistic regression were used to explore differences. Results: Injuries and respiratory exposures significantly differed between women who were both academic/professionals and agricultural operators and those who were only academic/professional. Academics were similar to crop producers, livestock producers were different from all others, and those who were both crop and livestock producers fell between the two. Fewer differences were seen among the age groups. Younger women were most concerned about reproductive health and older women more concerned about mental health and musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: Concerns differed by occupational role and less by age group. Although injuries were of concern for women working in an academic/professional role, they were not a major concern when women also worked a farm or ranch. It is unclear why this might be and further studies need to be conducted to ascertain if these differences can be replicated.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Livestock Mental Health Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Urogenital System Women
• Keywords:
  Agriculture; Women; Agricultural Safety; Livestock; Reproductive Health; Musculoskeletal Disorders; MSD; Mental Health; Occupational Health; Author Keywords: Agricultural Exposures; Agricultural Health; Correspondence Analysis; Women In Agriculture
• Source:
  J Agromedicine 2026 Jan; 31(1):11-19
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Nebraska ; Kansas City Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  10 pdf pages
• Volume:
  31
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071191
• Contact Point Address:
  Cheryl L. Beseler, Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, 984388 Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
• Email:
  chbeseler@unmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Nebraska Medical Center - Omaha
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20110901
• End Date:
  20270831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6e0472a35d893b52a6baa94cdf9c573f57c30ec0a335d92348046f2a6b7bd4b2a0b463fd5506261077c96a977765f38b1f9718c590919951e43f3348cf09f054
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258670/cdc_258670_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.04 MB ]