Do you really want your name on that?

We were driving through the increasingly sparse Iowa landscape recently on our way from one place to another when we noted a "sign" with the farm name proudly displayed - "XYZ Farms" - yes, the name has been changed for all of the reasons.  It was placed prominently at the intersection of two roads.  And we saw a similar sign for some other fields at another intersection for the same "farms."

My verbal comment as we went by the second sign was "do they really want to put their name next to that?"

The Genuine Faux Farm is our farm.  Yes, it is SINGULAR - just ONE farm.  You see, we never did understand someone's need to own multiple farms.  Maybe someone else might like to farm too?  And yes, our name is pronounced "fox" not "foe," even though it is a great play on words when you use the French word "faux" = "fake" or "false."

We were gifted this nice sign with our farm name on it.  It is not terribly large and it doesn't call too much attention to itself.  In some ways, it is a lot like the farmers in that regard.  It states what needs to be said and is not afraid to do so.  But, there really isn't that much need to make such a big deal about it.

The sign itself resided by the back door of the farmhouse for many years.  The back door was the accessible entry and if anyone came to visit or make a delivery, they might see the sign.  To be perfectly honest our back entry has not been the most photogenic part of our farm until recently, when we finally got some help to fix it all up.  It was ugly enough to make me wonder sometimes if we really wanted people to see our name next to the wobbly cement steps and old grey siding that was falling apart.

Oddly enough, now that the area looks better, the sign has yet to return.  Maybe we should fix that!

This brings me back to the XYZ Farms and their signs and my reasons for wondering why their farm name was proudly displayed there.  

No.  There wasn't a ramshackle building, leaning precariously to one side or another, surrounded by the rusted shells of twenty old vehicles and dozens of discarded farming implements buried in Giant Ragweed stalks.

Instead, there were slightly rolling hills of farmland filled with.... nothing.  

That, in itself, is not unique for farmland in Iowa.  What bothered me was the complete lack of respect and care for the land that I could read just by the periodic observances I have made over time.

The only ground cover these fields have known over the past ten years is corn and the soil is turned over every year in the Fall after the corn is harvested.  Over the years, the small number of grass waterways have gotten less wide and tillage has now encroached on the ditches by the road.  Over the past couple of years, I have noted that the crown at the top of the ditch is rolled over, and the heavy rains will sometimes wash some of that soil down into the ditch.  If you look, you can see where they have to actually steer their equipment around the telephone poles at the top of the ditch - making it clear that they must be aware of exactly where they are working the soil.

The corn rows are straight and nothing (and I mean nothing) will change the prescribed North-South or East-West orientation that is selected by the XYZ Farms.  That means rows go straight up and down some of the gentle hills on this farmland, instead of running parallel to the contour.  With the bare ground, you can see the quality of the top soil change as you go to the top of the hill.  And, it will continue to degrade as this planting practice will promote even more erosion.

From the roadway, you can see for miles.  And that's not because the road is so much higher than the surrounding land.  It's because XYZ Farms has an aversion to trees, bushes and even tall grasses.

We would probably be accurate if we made the guess that they rely on synthetic fertilizers and a whole host of pesticides to grow the corn.  We have, in fact, gone by at times when we have witnessed spraying and anhydrous ammonia applications at many places - but my memory does not include one that directly links to one of XYZ Farms fields.

Even without that knowledge, I can still read the land.  I can still see that it is being "flogged to within an inch of its life."  And XYZ Farms wants you to know that they are proud of being responsible for that?

Now - before you get too upset at me.  I understand that not everyone sees things the way I do.  If you look at this through other eyes, you might see reason for pride.  The fields are "neat and clean" and the rows are nice and straight.  You'll never see a weed amongst the corn rows.  Things are done with the utmost efficiency from the perspective of labor and equipment... except, perhaps, the weaving around the telephone poles. 

If you believe humans need to completely control the land and you believe the natural world must be bound to serve us - then maybe this is beautiful to you.  And maybe that's why you want your name next to it.

But, this attitude is bleeding the life from our soils and from our land.  Something Iowans say they love.  This is not love.  This is abuse.  And Iowans don't stand for that sort of thing - do they?