If you fly in or out of Denver soon, you might spot what we’re pretty sure is the state’s largest political sign.
Frustrated at some of the negativity coming from opponents of President Donald Trump, rancher Doug Koehn hopped on his plow and carved the word “TRUMP” in big block letters into his field.
“The letters are 800 feet wide and approximately 800 feet long,” Koehn said. “A mile-long Trump.”
You can’t really read it from ground level. The first time Koehn saw the whole thing in one frame was when 9NEWS showed up with a drone to see it.
“It looks really nice,” Koehn said while staring at the drone’s video feed, joking that he was relieved he didn’t make a spelling error.
Some farmers have equipment that can be programmed to use GPS systems to precisely plow a field. This effort was decidedly low-tech by comparison.
“I have an old tractor, it don’t do that,” Koehn said. “My son come out and stepped it off and I just drove the tractor to wherever he was standing.”
Koehn says he’s never voted before last year’s election, when he was inspired to cast a ballot for Trump. He tells 9NEWS he’s “embarrassed” that Colorado voted for Hillary Clinton last year and wanted to show that Trump has healthy support in Colorado’s rural Eastern plains.
He was also inspired by his previous experience flying in and out of Denver International Airport, which ranks as one of the 20 busiest airports in the world.
He’s been able to spot the house on his ranch land from the plane before and he hopes his sign will reach travelers with routes that run to the East of Denver.
There’s also a bit of big dreaming at play here as well. Koehn lit up at the idea that Air Force One might someday buzz the sign he cut into his land.
“They can even land if they’re in Marine One,” Koehn said. “I’ll buy [President Trump] a beer. I’d love to shake his hand.”
The whole job took only about two hours to complete, Koehn said. He plans to leave it up until he needs to plow the rest of the field in the Springtime.
A side note: this is the first-ever story to air on 9NEWS using a station-owned drone. You can expect to see more drone footage popping up in our coverage moving forward.
