Highway poetry for healthy soil

October 23, 2025 | Kriss Nelson

Advertising their product in a series of roadside signs worked well for Burma-Shave 100 years ago. Motorists were entertained by the humorous, rhyming poems that caught their attention along America’s highways, showcasing clever messages that helped boost sales of the brushless shaving cream.

If it worked for Burma Shave, will it work for conservation?

With that hope, the Iowa Soybean Association’s (ISA) Research Center for Farming Innovation has taken its conservation message to Iowa’s highways.

The project, funded entirely by the Walton Family Foundation as part of its long-standing relationship with ISA, includes the placement of several Burma-Shave-style signs to encourage in-field conservation practices and highlight the profitability that can result from adopting them. The effort was made possible without using any checkoff funds.

Rob Davis, ISA’s watershed program manager, says he hopes the signs will prompt people to consider which conservation options might fit their farms, both agronomically and economically.

“If someone gets a chuckle while driving by, that’s great,” he says. “But if it also makes them think about what could work on their farm, that’s even better.”

Rhymes for conservation

ISA is installing conservation-themed Burma-Shave-style signs across the state. Travelers are encouraged to keep an eye out along highways across the state, such as U.S. 218, Iowa 92 and Iowa 71.

“ISA has looked to longstanding conservation champions and partners to encourage practices that are core to their farm operations,” Davis says. “They help show that conservation practices can fit into a farm operation both agronomically and economically and not tucked away on the back forty.”

To promote key conservation practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage, and nutrient management, some of the conservation-focused rhyming jingles travelers may come across include:

Soil Health - If you build it - Worms will come - So will yields - Plant cover crops

Soil’s like hair - Once it’s gone - Won’t grow back - Save it now - Plant Cover Crops

“We’ve all seen signs promoting conservation practices, which is great because it recognizes what’s out there,” says Davis. “But if you want to get people to think twice, having some fun with it is a good way to do it.”

Support for the signs

Besides project funding by the Walton Family Foundation, the project received support from Stine Seed Company, an ISA industry partner.

“Stine Seed Company donated many posts, which allowed us to use larger signs and add reflective layering so they’re visible at night,” he says. “Stine stepping up was a tremendous help for the project.”

The project also builds on ISA’s longstanding partnership with the Agricultural Clean Water Alliance (ACWA). 
Davis explained that the promoted conservation practices include nutrient management following the 4Rs: the right source, right rate, right time and right place.

That made working with ACWA a natural fit and also provided an opportunity to place signs near cooperatives. Four sets of signs highlight partnerships with Heartland Cooperative, Landus, NEW Cooperative and AgState.

To learn more about the conservation-themed Burma-Shave-style signs or where to find them, contact Davis at rdavis@iasoybeans.com.

Written by Kriss Nelson.

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