Lots of red states are in the middle of what’s sometimes called “Fly Over Country.” Airline travelers going from coast to coast are used to seeing fields of sunflowers and wheat.
One creative North Dakotan, Gene Hanson of Ellendale, is giving people with window seats something else to discuss. Hanson lets his tractor do the talking while carving words of wisdom to farm fields.
“I’m trying to send a message,” says Hanson. “It works best in a harvested bean field where you can count the rows.”
When spelling out what’s on his mind, he doesn’t need to be guided by GPS satellites. Gene tapes slogans to the hood of his tractor and just cranks them out.
“I’m eyeballing it,” says Hanson. “If you let your disc down too soon, or not soon enough, you screw up the whole thing, and sometimes when you’re almost done you’ve got to move to another part of the field and start all over.”
Folks who fly over at 20 or 30,000 feet have no trouble figuring out where Gene is coming from.
“I’ve always been conservative,” says Hanson. “I think Trump has done a good job for our country, and I look forward to voting for him again in 2020.”
With a canvas as big as the prairie, you can bet Gene will have a lot more to say before the next election. You don’t have to buy a plane ticket to read his work. He usually puts it on Facebook.
Watch his story by KFYR reporter Cliff Naylor.
