On my way home to the northwest corner of Ohio last weekend, I was in a no passing zone behind a slow-moving farm tractor. The driver had her hazard lights on, had the required orange triangle attached to the rear of her tractor, and was as far to the right as she could possibly be without driving in the ditch. It was only a few minutes before I was able to pass her and resume my slightly-above-the-limit speed.I noticed that as some cars went around, the drivers made angry gestures. Some with a derogatory flip of the finger, others with obnoxious toots of their horn. Others waved angry fists in the air as they drove past. I don’t understand what they were so angry about. Yes, farm machinery is often slower than most vehicles and sometimes it takes up a large share of the road. And you usually get behind it when you are in a hurry, running late for an appointment, or just in a bad mood.But, farmers pay taxes for road construction and maintenance just like everyone else. According to the Ohio Revised Code, farm equipment operators must have a slow moving vehicle emblem (the reflective orange triangle) on the rear of the machinery that is visible from a minimum of 500 feet away. At least one white headlight has to be attached to the front of the equipment, and two red tail lights (or one red tail light and two red reflectors) on the back. The lights must be activated a half-hour before sunset and a half-hour after sunrise. Why would farmers put all this equipment on to use public highways knowing that they are going to be on the receiving end of angry behavior by other drivers?Perhaps it is because there is no other route for them to take. With the demand for more efficient crop production, equipment has gotten bigger to accommodate the demand. Many back roads are not wide enough for the equipment, so it’s necessary for farmers to take a highway to get to another area or home after a day that began at 6 a.m.Let’s give these farmers some slack. Farming is not an occupation just for “rednecks who can’t get a real job,” which is what a guy in my history class once told me. Most people don’t realize that agriculture is the number one industry in Ohio, worth $56.2 billion in 1992, according to John Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. Technology in agriculture is constantly changing and improving. Farmers, especially those on smaller family farms, have to keep up if they want to stay in business. They compete against large corporate farms that are moving in everywhere, as well as international producers.Farmers, people who make a gross income of $1000 per year from agricultural products, represent less than two percent of the United States population. They work long, hard hours in a job that depends almost totally on the weather, which in Ohio, seems to change by the hour. Whether these rude drivers know it or not, they are heavily involved in agriculture, whether they live on farms or in the city – where the football field is the biggest stretch of grass and soil they see. Our clothes, food, beer, and furniture are all products of agriculture.Under pressure to produce more with fewer resources and more government regulation, farmers do not deserve the angry fists, horn blasts and finger gestures from motorists. They will usually pull over when there is a line of cars behind them. If they don’t, be patient, especially now during the heart of planting season. The grain they plant that day could someday be in your favorite beer.
Erin Zeedyk is a junior majoring in agricultural communications.
