By: Max Steigauf / Assistant News Director

The Stearns County Highway Department wants to remind farmers in the county that planting crops in the right of way of the road is illegal.

Planting in the right of way is a misdemeanor under a new 2021 Minnesota statute.

Officials with the county are working to prevent any situation where crops’ may block motorists’ vision and cause safety issues or cause erosion close to the highway.