Nothing says 'I love you' like a lot of manure

Manure, a huge snow-covered field and a local pilot helped a southern Minnesota farmer show his love for his wife, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Bruce Andersland used a manure spreader to create a heart with an arrow through it in a field adjacent to the farmhouse where he and his wife, Beth, live southwest of Albert Lea.

The heart is so big it's only recognizable from the air.

Beth Andersland said Friday that her husband of 37 years is known for his creativity and design skills. But she said she's not used to getting such thoughtful gifts for Valentine's Day.

"You're married to a farmer and it's like, once in awhile he tells you you're getting a new baler for your birthday," she said.

On Wednesday, Bruce told his wife he was making her Valentine.

"I didn't think anything of it," Beth said.

Later, when he was cleaning out his pockets, Beth saw the Post-it note with a heart Bruce had drawn on it.

"Then he kind of fessed up what he was doing," she said. "I thought it was pretty cute."

The Anderslands raise 40 pure-bred Simmental cows, and Beth Andersland said it's snowed so much this winter that they've had to scrape out the pens numerous times. That snow is mixed with manure.

"It's a process and something you have to do anyway, so why not have some fun with it?" she said.

Bruce Andersland got in touch with an Albert Lea flight training school called Minnesota Aviation to see if someone could take a picture of the heart from the air.

"He called up saying he has a heart in his field made of manure, and we all kind of laughed," said Darren Schone, the pilot who ended up flying up to take a picture.

Schone snapped the picture during a training flight with one of his students, and the photo appeared in the Albert Lea Tribune.

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