If you have ventured outside the city limits of whichever town you live in or if you travel from your home in the county into town to work or shop, you are well aware that it's that time of the year. You have encountered large tractors and equipment on the highways, and you know it's time for the farmers to prepare their fields and plant their crops.

I hope you are aware that farming is big business for Robeson County and that it provides a major part of the economy of this county. Regardless of what the rest of the economy does, if farming does well, our local economy does well. If farming does poorly, our local economy does poorly.

There are few other major businesses in our county that employs over 4,000 workers on a full-time basis and an additional 7,000 workers on a seasonal basis. There are very few other major businesses in our county that generate over $200 million for our local economy.

Farming is a much different business than most of our citizens are accustomed. Instead of being confined to an office, a plant, or to a general location, farming is spread far and wide throughout over 950 square miles of Robeson County. Many farmers produce crops not only on their own farm but on many other farms as well. Sometimes they may have to travel 12-15 miles, or more, to farms they are managing.

Unlike years ago when farm tractors and equipment were barely larger than the family car, the tractors and equipment that farmers are using today are often as wide as the public highways. Because of this I would like to use this opportunity to urge you to be cautious and courteous when you meet them on the highway. These farmers have no other choice than to use the public highways to get from one farm to another.

Many motorist become annoyed and impatient if they encounter large farm equipment on the public highway. Unfortunately, this often creates unsafe situations if they try to pass or if they follow much too closely.

When this equipment is traveling on the public highway, it is a challenge not only for the motorist but for the tractor operator as well. Many times it is often very difficult, and sometimes impossible, for the operator to pull the tractor off the side of the road to let vehicles pass. If you have ever noticed, the side of the road is full of mailboxes and road signs which prevent the operator from moving over without doing major damage to the equipment or destroying someone's mailbox or one of the road signs.

Most times these large pieces of farm equipment will travel on the public roads for only short distances. Farmers usually schedule their farm operations to keep the tractors off the highways as much as possible. The tires on these tractors were designed for field work, not highway travel. The deep cleats in the tractor tires wear off too quickly when the tractor is traveling on asphalt highways. You may think it is tough to pay as much as $100 for a new tire for your car, but when the farmer has to buy new tires for his tractor, he will often have to pay more than $2,000 for each tire. Besides, the tractors and combines are not getting any work done when on the highways.

As I travel the highways, I have noticed that most tractor and combine operators are very considerate of motorist on the highway. They will watch behind them to determine if they are holding up traffic. If so, they will look for a suitable place they can pull off the highway and let the traffic pass.

If you are traveling our rural roads during the coming months and come up behind a piece of farm equipment, please use extreme caution and please be patient for a few minutes. The operator will most likely be to the next farm within a couple of minutes, or he will find a suitable place to pull off the road and let you by. Don't get reckless and try to pass on the shoulder of the road or when you cannot see ahead of the equipment. You may cause an unnecessary accident, resulting in injury or death to yourself or to someone else.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 5/14/02