Women in Ag: Halt! Who Goes There?

One Sunday while driving to scout our fields, I noticed that the power poles in one field had purple paint on them. “Why are those poles painted?” I asked. Turns out I was getting ready for a lesson on trespassing.

As farmers, we are no strangers to people trespassing on our land. We’ve run kids on four-wheelers out of fields, after they had damaged our soybeans by riding over them. To someone outside of farming, damaged bean plants may not sound like a big deal, but we’ve got a financial investment in those plants. If we can’t harvest them, then we take a financial loss. 

I can’t figure out why a parent would buy their child a four-wheeler when they only have a small yard to ride it in, but it seems that most kids living in the country have one, whether they have room to ride it or not.  No yard, no problem, seems to be the idea - we’ll just ride in that farmer's field.

We’ve run people riding horses out of our fields. Horses might not seem like they could damage a field, but if we’re Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)-certified (which we are), one of the things we have to do is monitor manure from animals in our fields (deer, dog, wild pig, and so on). Last time I checked, horses will leave behind manure. 

Hunting season presents a huge trespassing issue for farmers. Deer and hunting dogs don’t recognize property lines, and hunters often don’t respect them. I’ve spoken with farmers who have been trying to keep hunters off their land;  hose hunters are often from other states and have no respect for property lines, “No Trespassing” signs, or the people living and working on the land. 

One farmer I knew had a cow shot during hunting season. Really, who can justify mistaking a large, black cow for a deer?  Even if it was an accident, the decent thing to do would have been to contact the owner. No one did, and the farmer lost a valuable herd animal. 

Speaking of livestock, what happens when someone enters a field that has livestock?  Kids don’t often understand (or maybe they do and don’t care?) that teasing an animal or throwing something at it is not a good idea.  

Aside from worries about damage to our crops and livestock, there are also liability concerns. What happens if those kids riding four-wheelers without permission have an accident? If that bull a kid threw something at charged and injured the child? I’ve read about kids drowning in farm ponds or lagoons (ponds used to collect manure on hog farms) that they didn’t have permission to be swimming in. 

This brings me back to the painted poles. I’ve seen “No Trespassing” signs on poles, but if a pole bears a streak of purple paint, that also means “No Trespass,” whether or not there is a sign. In North Carolina, the Landowner Protection Act allows landowners to use purple paint to post their land to allow hunters, trappers, and fisherman access only if they have written permission. 

Paint is convenient, harder to vandalize than signs, and easier to maintain. There are guidelines for painting posts or trees, which can be found on the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website.  Check with your state wildlife resources commission for rules in your state. 

The trend of using purple paint started in Arkansas in 1989 in response to requests from people in agriculture, forestry, and outdoor sports. It has spread to other states including Missouri and Illinois, according to an article I read on the State-Journal Register’s website. 

I should say that before you start painting or posting, make sure you know the location of property lines. Usually lines are identified when land is bought and sold, but land that has been in the same family for generations may have a survey that can be vague, using rocks, trees, and other natural resources to identify property lines. 

I’m not sure what the answer to keeping people off the land we are working is. I know it’s a challenge farmers across the country are facing. Have you had to deal with trespassers on your farm, and what efforts are you making to keep them away?