It’s not unusual to hear the words farming and hard work in the same sentence. Today’s farmers provide an invaluable service; keeping our country’s food supply, economy, and cultivation stabilized by laboring long hours in often extreme weather conditions. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, “Every day, about 167 agricultural workers suffer a lost-work-time injury. Five percent of these injuries result in permanent impairment.” The physical work performed on ranches and farms can be overwhelmingly difficult. Tasks such as hauling hay, lifting feed sacks, building fences, plowing, climbing up and down from tractors and combines; these aspects of farm life can eventually lead to physical and kinesthetic issues and ailments and pain. To fully understand the risks, warning signs, and what you can do to help prevent and alleviate common aches associated with physical farm work, the following topics have been considered to be the best way to recognize, treat and thwart the worst of physical afflictions.