Utah farmer turns alfalfa field into the perfect proposal


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ENTERPRISE, Washington County — Sarah Tullis learned early on as she began dating Tanner Holt that he loves spending time on his family’s farm near Enterprise.

And that’s where she got the surprise of her life.

“I was shocked because I didn’t think it was going to happen for another couple of weeks,” she said.

Holt said he thought for weeks about how he could propose to his girlfriend, and thanks to a hay swather, Google Earth and his family's large alfalfa field, he created the perfect proposal.

“My dad would stand at one end of the letter and position someone at the other end so I would know where to go,” Holt said. “It took a little time to set up, and the first few letters took most of time, but once we got going, it got going pretty good.”

Seven hours later, the very large message was written.

“The letters are 16 feet wide. That is the width of the swather header, and they are about 180-200 feet tall, in order to get the right perspective. We had to do it so it looked good at 60 feet in the air,” Holt said.

A couple days later, he talked Tullis into coming to the farm with him and taking a ride in a man lift, giving them a great view 60 feet in the air.

“She wanted to look at the field, but I was trying to hold her off, but she turned around a little quick and saw it halfway up,” Holt said.

And when Tullis saw the question — "Will you marry me?" — she says she didn’t hesitate to say yes!

“I don’t think anyone could have topped that,” Tullis said. “I loved it.”

It was a successful proposal for the boy who grew up on a farm and cut hay since he was 8 years old.

“I guess all those years of practice cutting hay paid off,” Holt said.

The proposal was timed just a few days before the field was scheduled to be cut, which was the day after Tullis said yes. She helped Holt cut the entire field, including his alfalfa proposal.

The couple is planning a September wedding, of course, after the last hay crop of the season is cut and baled.

Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc

Justin McArthur

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