Comments on: Why Would a Farmer Put a Sign on a Cotton, Corn or Soybean Field?

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Year-End Review -- Top 12 Posts of 2012 Plus Some — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 02:48:42 +0000

[…] Why Would a Farmer Put a Sign on a Cotton, Corn or Soybean Field? — This is a question that few farmers think of but it seems clear that people find it of great interest. This post was something that I was asked to write based on sharing some information from Illinois Farm Families. It seemed that some folks were looking for a good explanation about whether the signs denoted ownership or something else. Glad I could put my decades of being in the seed business to good use. It sure was a quick post to write! […]

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Sun, 26 Apr 2015 00:19:53 +0000

[…] Why Would a Farmer Put a Sign on a Cotton, Corn or Soybean Field? […]

By: Janice Person

Janice Person — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 21:16:29 +0000

In reply to Mike J. Glad to help out!

By: Mike J

Mike J — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:11:42 +0000

I have always wondered what the details behind these signs meant…thanks for posting!

By: Janice Person

Janice Person — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:28:35 +0000

In reply to dadblunders. Glad to hear this helps you make sense of it! :)

By: dadblunders

dadblunders — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:29:52 +0000

Thanks so much for the information Janice!!!

I didn’t know that they were used to highlight crops or differences in varieties but it makes total sense! I had assumed (you know what that means) that many times they would be a corporate farm or co-op farm. I do upon occasion look at the signs and have even stopped to read a few. I always wondered what they meant exactly!

Aaron

By: Janice Person

Janice Person — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:26:48 +0000

In reply to Eddie Borst. Thanks Eddie! Great points!

By: Eddie Borst

Eddie Borst — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:47:02 +0000

Janice,
First of all I commend you on your effort to continue to educate the consumer about how farming and agriculture work. It is important for the consumer to understand that there are no smoke and mirrors to their food supply. I wanted to comment on your post when I read the What Else Are The Signs Used For section. Some farmers, not all, use these signs to record any pesticide treatments that have been used throughout to growing season. I have even seen some with rainfall amounts recorded on them along with the dates. Just thought I would share this. Keep up the good work!

By: Janice Person

Janice Person — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 02:06:11 +0000

In reply to Cotton Boll Conspiracy. You are welcome! Glad to shine a light on what's up on the farm!

By: John F. Bradley

John F. Bradley — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Janice, Great topic, and many answers and cooments. I was so glad you mentioned the fact that most signs are placed by company reps. and their summer interns. Most signs are placed by permission from the owner/operators.Commericalism is the primarry driver behind most brand/product field signs. It had never crossed my mind that Field Signs would equate to corporate farming, since most growers will not alow a sign unless they are proud of their crop or results/preformance of the signed product. South America takes the prize for number of signs per field, I have noticed almost a kilometer of solid field signs in Brazil and Argentina on visits for multi companies and products.
We see more and more dealer and distributor signs co-branded with seed and crop protectants. So bottom line, I believe it is commercial competition with some grower pride for ‘the brand’. I remember a few years back when Monsanto made an ‘edict’ to ‘sign’ all corn and soy fields north and south (I-55) of St. Louis with Asgrow and DeKalb signs. Just this week while attending the Monsanto Field Day at Union City Tennessee, I noted that Pioneer had every one of their fields ‘signed’ approaching the event for miles in each direction. Fun study, maybe a good Master’s thesis.