Burdick farmer expresses feelings through wheat art
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
People express feelings of love and appreciation in many different ways. Dan Peterson of Burdick does it in a unique way — through wheat art.
Placing stakes here and there as guides and, with the help of family members, he plants wheat in the shape of letters. Each letter is approximately 120 feet long.
The hard white wheat is sown in the fall and becomes photogenic when it ripens the following June. Usually, the wheat is left unharvested for wildlife.
Charles Rayl of Cottonwood Falls has photographed most of Dan's designs.
Since 1990, Dan has created seven works of field art. He's characteristically modest about it.
"I'm not an artist," he said. "I'm a farmer."
He does not compare himself to Stan Herd, the undisputed king of crop art in Kansas. Rather, he sees himself as someone who desires to make a statement. Herd may do it for money, but Dan does it to show love and appreciation.
His first piece of art resulted from his love of the land. In 1990, he took part in a grassroots drive to prevent the federal government from extending Ft. Riley's training ground south through eastern Marion County and the Flint Hills.
Dan drilled the organization's name, Preserve the Heartland, freehand, into a narrow strip of land which ran parallel with a u-shaped terrace. The word "heart" was replaced with a heart shape: PRESERVE THE © LAND.
He doesn't know if his efforts or those of others had any effect, but the government eventually decided not to expand the base.
Dan and his wife, Linda, have two children. When each was married, he produced a wedding announcement of wheat in their honor.
TOM AND SUSIE TIE THE KNOT, Dec. 21, 1991, one proclaimed. The other one was comprised of two touching hearts containing the names JEFF and JAIME. Underneath was the date, DEC 16, 2000.
Kansas State University
Kansas State University has a special place in Dan's heart because he and Jeff are alumni of the KSU College of Agriculture. Dan graduated in 1969 and Jeff in 1994.
In the summer of 1993, Dan produced the slogan, "KANSAS STATE MAKES LIFE GREAT," with an adjacent Powercat symbol. The aerial photo appeared in the next Royal Purple yearbook.
Dan's latest wheat design was a result of his membership on the board of Kansas State Ag Alumni Association. The board wanted to raise awareness of the agriculture department.
Board member Melanie Mainquist sketched the design onto a napkin, which Dan still has in his possession.
Within a wheat border in the shape of the state of Kansas, it proclaims KSU AG ALUMNI, and also includes the wildcat logo, which Dan said required a little more measuring.
Dean Houghton, an aerial photographer and husband of another board member, Jerilyn Johnson-Houghton, took the photo in the summer of 2003. It was reproduced on note cards for sale as a fund-raiser. The multipurpose cards are available from the ag alumni office at Manhattan.
When Dan was attending Centre High School, the school had no FFA program. But Jeff was active in the program during his years at Centre, and Dan was appreciative of the opportunities the organization gave his son.
"If you were good, FFA made you better," he said.
In the fall of 1993, Dan sowed an outline of the United States, then put within it the slogan: FFA LEADERSHIP FOR AMERICA.
His next work was the slogan, JOHN DEERE COUNTRY, along with the company's logo. An aerial photo was taken by Chester Peterson Jr., a photographer from Lindsborg. Dan said it wasn't a commercial endorsement, just something he wanted to say.
Although Dan has never viewed his wheat art from the air ("I'm not big on flying"), he said it has attracted numerous small planes to the area. It also has generated some publicity.
The Salina Journal featured his "Preserve the Heartland," design along with a story about the organization.
Grass and Grain, an agricultural magazine, published a photograph of the TOM AND SUSIE design.
The January issue of The Furrow, a magazine published by John Deere Corporation, featured his work, calling it "Farming in Freehand."
"All my wheat art has been about something that is near to my heart," he said. "That means more than if you're hired to do something."
At present, he is taking a break from his art and is waiting for the next inspiring idea.
The Petersons have a diversified farming operation south of Burdick. They also sell certified seed and operate Heartland Travel LLC, which sponsors bus trips to Branson, Mo., several times a year.
