The latest installation in his front yard is a large bear made of seven bales of hay.

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — For more than 40 years, Ray Killough has created hay art on his farm that sits off Old Monroe Road in Indian Trail.

"My brother and I together have about 100 acres," said Killough, a retired engineer.

Killough served his country in the U.S. Army, and he was mayor of Indian Trail in the late '90s.

"The good Lord blessed me and has taken care of us all along," Killough said.

He's now giving joy to others with his work, or 'redneck hay art' as he calls it.

"We originally started with a few bales and it's grown to the size and so forth that it is now," he said.

His first piece public piece was a man made out of hay, which led to a hay Christmas Angel, a hay Easter bunny, and on Easter day, an empty tomb made of hay.

"For the glory of the good Lord," he said about the final Easter piece.

A devout Christian, Killough loves to share joy with others.

His current creation is a plus sized teddy bear, which took seven bales of hay to build and surprisingly only a few hours of work.

The big bear overlooks Old Monroe road, causing no collisions but plenty of pit stops.

"Folks are welcome into the yard," Killough said, inviting others to take pictures.



In a Facebook group, more than 1,000 people have 'liked' his work -- but Killough doesn't do it for the fame.

"We're not on social media so we're oblivious to what's being said," Killough said.

He has, however, had people approach him in public.

"We hope that it brings joy to folks," Killough said after being asked why he spends time setting up the installations in his front yard.

The hay man took a break from his creations after someone lit one of his creations on fire -- a turkey made out of hay around Thanksgiving. It led to a five year hiatus, until he realized the impact a couple of bales of hay could make on someone's life.