Letter to the Editor: Bale wraps litter
February 14, 2018
Dear Farmers,
As a farmer’s wife and farmer’s daughter, the image I get when someone says “farmer” is hard worker, honest, someone who sees and feeds the world, and just good people. But I am grieving over all the hay netting in the ditches.
I was on my way to Monett, and I noticed a lot of hay netting and feed bags. So on the way back, which is a 20 mile trip, I counted 117 bale wraps along the road. Not counting the ones I missed, that averages over five wraps per mile in our ditches and on our fences.
When you see trash on the road, you say, “What a shame someone threw trash out.” When people see bale wrap in the ditches, they say, “Some farmer lost their hay bale netting.” Do we want the children knowing that farmers are littering their beautiful world?
Why this bothers me, besides the obvious problem of the litter and the ugliness, is that people know it is hay wrap from a farmer. Farmers are usually the last person you would call lazy. I am trying to understand why farmers would throw bale wrap on the back of your flatbed truck for the wind to just blow in the road.
So the question here is, do farmers want to be known to all as people who don’t care how our world looks? Are farmers too lazy to take care of their hay netting? If I can bring attention to just one farmer to take care of his netting, I will feel that I have at least helped out in a small way. But in the long run I am wondering if we should contact our Congressmen and ask for a law forbidding farmers to carry used plastic netting on the back of their trucks. Ticket the farmer for littering, even if it has not fallen YET.
Come on farmers, have some pride, don’t be part of the reason our country looks trashy. Let us continue to be known as hard-working farmers that we are, who feed the world.
-Sherry Morgan
Dear Farmers,
As a farmer’s wife and farmer’s daughter, the image I get when someone says “farmer” is hard worker, honest, someone who sees and feeds the world, and just good people. But I am grieving over all the hay netting in the ditches.
I was on my way to Monett, and I noticed a lot of hay netting and feed bags. So on the way back, which is a 20 mile trip, I counted 117 bale wraps along the road. Not counting the ones I missed, that averages over five wraps per mile in our ditches and on our fences.
When you see trash on the road, you say, “What a shame someone threw trash out.” When people see bale wrap in the ditches, they say, “Some farmer lost their hay bale netting.” Do we want the children knowing that farmers are littering their beautiful world?
Why this bothers me, besides the obvious problem of the litter and the ugliness, is that people know it is hay wrap from a farmer. Farmers are usually the last person you would call lazy. I am trying to understand why farmers would throw bale wrap on the back of your flatbed truck for the wind to just blow in the road.
So the question here is, do farmers want to be known to all as people who don’t care how our world looks? Are farmers too lazy to take care of their hay netting? If I can bring attention to just one farmer to take care of his netting, I will feel that I have at least helped out in a small way. But in the long run I am wondering if we should contact our Congressmen and ask for a law forbidding farmers to carry used plastic netting on the back of their trucks. Ticket the farmer for littering, even if it has not fallen YET.
Come on farmers, have some pride, don’t be part of the reason our country looks trashy. Let us continue to be known as hard-working farmers that we are, who feed the world.
-Sherry Morgan
Disclaimer:
The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to editor@4bca.com
The editor of the Barry County Advertiser reserves the right to edit or withhold from publication any letter for any reason whatsoever. Letters to the Editor reflect the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the Barry County Advertiser or its staff. Email your letters to editor@4bca.com