It is Corn Chopping Time Again—Share the Road!

Summer is over and it is the time farmers get out in their fields to harvest their corn and soybean crops. That means there will be large-sized slow moving vehicles all over our county roads. Slow moving vehicles are marked with an orange triangle that should be visible from the rear. Slow moving vehicles (SMV) typically drive slower than 25 miles per hour. If you come up behind a SMV you have only a few seconds to react and keep both you and the farmer safe.

Who else uses the SMV sign? Our growing Amish community places the SMV signs on the rear of their buggies. Be sure to be careful on the winding country roads – especially those roads where the Amish live or where you see a Horse and Buggy road sign. The road signs (w11-14) are located where motorists can expect to see folks traveling in a horse and buggy. Some bicyclists also have a SMV sign on the backs of their bicycle.

The Tioga County Agriculture Resource Group has purchased about 50 Share the Road signs to remind motorists to drive safely.  You may see a few of them pop up on private property; it is an attempt to keep our farmers and Amish neighbors safe.  

The signs are lawn signs, much like the political signs that folks running for office pepper around the county near election time. If you live near farmers or folks in the Amish community and would like to have a sign for your front yard, contact Barb Neal of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tioga County at ban1@cornell.edu. 

We would like to hand out all of the signs and display them each fall as a reminder that it is our responsibility to keep our neighbors safe while they go about their work.