In the heart of South Dakota, where the horizon stretches into an endless canvas of prairie and sky, the arrival of winter usually signals a period of quiet hibernation for the region’s agricultural hubs. However, for the Prunty family, a ten-inch blanket of fresh snow was not an obstacle to be cleared, but an opportunity to share a bit of rural magic with the rest of the world. Prunty Farms, a sprawling fifth-generation operation that has weathered over a century of changing seasons, recently became the center of a global viral sensation. They achieved this not through a traditional harvest, but by using a two-ton tractor as a paintbrush and an expansive, snow-covered field as their easel.
The project, which the family aptly titled “Deere Tracks,” began on a crisp morning when the air was still and the snow lay undisturbed across the acreage. Dan Prunty, a veteran farmer whose hands are more accustomed to the grit of soil and the grease of machinery than the delicate strokes of calligraphy, climbed into the cab of his trusty John Deere 6400. To the casual observer, it might have looked like a routine chore, but Dan had a different objective in mind. Guided by a vision of holiday cheer and a surprising amount of artistic finesse, he began to navigate the tractor through the deep powder, carving out massive, flowing cursive letters that eventually spelled out “Merry Christmas” across the frozen landscape.
The sheer scale of the undertaking was immense. Writing in cursive is a challenge for many with a pen and paper; doing so with a massive piece of agricultural machinery requires a level of spatial awareness and precision that few possess. There was no room for a rough draft or an eraser; a single wrong turn would leave a permanent scar in the pristine snow, ruining the symmetry of the message. Dan had to maintain a steady speed and a perfect turning radius to ensure that the “M” flowed seamlessly into the “e,” and that the loops of the “r”s were consistent and legible from the sky.
Capturing this fleeting moment of seasonal art fell to Dan’s son, Adam Prunty. For several years, Adam has acted as the digital storyteller of the family farm, using drone technology to document the day-to-day realities of rural life. He recognized that while his father’s work was impressive from the ground, the true beauty of the message could only be appreciated from an aerial perspective. As Dan maneuvered the tractor through the field, Adam piloted a drone high above, filming the process in high definition. The resulting footage is a mesmerizing blend of power and grace, showing the bright green tractor looking like a small toy as it etches deep, dark lines into the brilliant white crust of the earth.
The process behind “Deere Tracks” was surprisingly organic. Adam later explained that the entire message was executed freehand. There were no GPS coordinates fed into an automated steering system and no markers placed in the snow to guide the path. Before the cameras rolled, Adam had practiced the route himself, walking the curves and loops to visualize the spacing. Once they were ready, Dan took the wheel, relying on his decades of experience behind the controls of the 6400 to bring the vision to life. The result was a stunning display of “tractor snow art,” a medium that few knew existed until the Pruntys shared their work online.
