North Dakota producer plowed Prince’s symbol into his field
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
A farmer from North Dakota honored the late pop icon Prince in a way that may have even made the musician “go crazy.”
Gene Hanson used his Massey Ferguson tractor, a 3-disc implement, his natural ability and a picture of Prince’s iconic symbol to plow it into his corn field.
The idea came when he heard of Prince’s passing while having breakfast with some friends. After he finished, he used a home-built plane to take pictures of his work.
“I just couldn’t believe how well it turned out,” he told the Grand Forks Herald, adding he likes the song ‘Purple Rain.’
Aerial view of Prince's symbol, carved into a field by farmer Gene Hanson.
The photo of his work has gone viral; it’s been shared on social media sites and Hanson, who rents the land to a farmer who’s about to plant his corn over the image, asked him to plant around the symbol to make it stand out more.
Prince died on April 21 at the age of 57.
Hanson is no stranger to plowing topical things like “Happy Easter”, “Happy Mother’s Day” and “Pray For Rain” into his fields.
And Hanson is not alone; farmers tend to have a knack of using their fields as a canvas to broadcast their feelings.
Kade Kroger from New Castle, Indiana, used his field to show his support for Donald Trump by plowing “Trump” into it after he couldn’t attend an event for the Republican candidate.
Jerry Slankard, a farmer near Canton, Ohio, used manure from cows and bulls to spell out “No Trump” on his field.