‘Written in the soybeans’: ND farmer lets soybean field pop the question

HAVANA, N.D. (KFYR) – You’ve heard the saying, “It was written in the stars.”

But what about, “It was written in the soybeans?”

That’s where one southeastern North Dakota farmer decided to write his marriage proposal.

Justin Lehmann started planning this proposal last May when he was planting soybeans on his farm near Havana.

He used technology and precision planting to write the words “marry me” into this soybean field. Lehmann had a pilot friend take him and his now fiancé Hayley Schmidt on an aerial crop tour. That’s when he popped the question.

His brother was there too and was in charge of capturing the moment on video.

Lehmann said keeping the proposal a secret wasn’t easy.

“It’s obviously huge letters in a field,” he said. “Luckily it was facing away from any major roads, so I was able to keep it away from mostly everybody. There were a couple people who saw it, but luckily, they didn’t spill the beans.”

Schmidt said she and Lehmann had talked about getting married someday, but she had no idea that crop tour would end with a marriage proposal.

“Most people who know me know I’m pretty gullible, so I was like, sure let’s go look at some crops and go on a flight. I didn’t really think anything of it,” she laughed.

“She had never been in a small airplane before either, so it was fun,” added Lehmann.

The couple is planning to get married late next summer, sometime between planting and harvest.

Lehmann said he promises not to keep any more secrets from Schmidt.

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