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WAVERLY, Minn. – Over the last 150 years, the Bakeberg family farm has hosted many thousands of guests at their Wright County dairy farm near Waverly. 

Most recently, they hosted more than 2,400 people June 10 for the Wright-Carver County Breakfast on the Farm. That same evening, more than 300 people showed up to celebrate the Bakebergs’ farm, Goldview Farms, turning 150 years old.

“In between the two events we had a wind and hail storm,” Pat Bakeberg said. “We got an inch and a half of rain and lost 120 acres of crops that had to be replanted.”

Being dairy farmers, the Bakebergs are familiar with the highs and lows that come with farming, even if they all happen in one day. 

The family has had a big impact on the community throughout the years. This marked the ninth time the Bakebergs have hosted the Wright-Carver County Breakfast on the Farm. The family actually helped initiate the very first breakfast in Wright County 14 years ago. Pat’s parents saw the event happening in other counties and wanted to make sure Wright County hosted one too.

“They (the general public) are so far removed from the farm; most of them can’t even say their grandparents had a farm,” Pat said. “That’s why it’s important to me to open the doors to the public. That’s why we do it so often.”

Pat’s mother, Faye Bakeberg, lives on the farm and helps to watch his kids and feeds the calves when help as needed. 

“It’s a good way to raise the kids and now my grandkids,” Faye said. “It’s just a good life, and I love being outside and doing stuff.”

Faye fondly remembers that first breakfast on the farm event. 

“The first year we had around 700 people,” she said. 

The 150th-year milestone is one Faye said she and her late husband, Greg, looked forward to for many years.

“It’s a real honor to have something like that,” Faye said.

The farm passed hands from Faye and Greg to their son and daughter-in-law, Pat and Joanna, in January 2022 after the unexpected passing of Greg. Now Pat and Joanna milk 120 cows in a double-6 parlor on the historic farm. Together, they are raising the sixth generation of Bakebergs – Harper, Olivia and Hattie. 

They farm 850 acres of crops and finish out their steers. Pat does custom combining and big-square baling and, along with a neighbor, owns a custom chopping business as well. 

In the last 150 years, the farm has grown and changed.     

The family can trace its history to 1873 when Henry Bakeberg Sr. left Prussia, came to the U.S. and purchased 80 acres of land. At the time, the land was owned by the Crook family, who three years earlier has purchased it from the railroad. 

“Henry Sr. paid $1,000 for the original 80 acres according to the abstract,” Faye said. 

Henry Sr. passed the farm onto his son, Henry Jr., who then passed the farm to his son, Carl. Carl then passed the farm onto his son, Greg, Pat’s dad. 

The freestall barn was built in 1968, and the original tiestall barn was retrofitted to be a swing-4 parlor. Pat said he plans to pass along bits of history like this to his own children.

“It was a state-of-the-art parlor when it was built in 1968,” Pat said. “We were one of the first in the county to have a parlor, and we even have a newspaper article that talked about it.” 

In 2006, after Pat graduated from college and returned home to farm full time, the parlor was remodeled again to be a double-6 parlor, and 20 stalls were added onto the freestall barn.

Up until Pat started going to college, he was planning to do crop and beef farming. Meanwhile, Faye said they had been discussing when to sell the cows. 

“He came home at Christmastime and said, ‘I want to milk cows,’” Faye said. “Greg and I had stopped putting money into the farm and were going to sell the cows once the silos were empty.” 

While the Bakebergs do not know exactly when the original barn and granary shed were built, the family history indicates the granary building is the oldest building still on the farm. 

Although it has served many purposes over the years, the granary stands today, and Pat said they have no intention of taking down the old, sturdy shed. Pat has heard the family history of the farm and plans to share the stories with his children. 

“That thing is not going anywhere; it is true (2- by 6-inch lumber) and the foundation is logs,” Pat said. “It is two stories tall, and when I was younger, we would put oats in the top and all the bagged feed in the bottom. Now, it’s more of a storage shed.”

The unique landscape of Goldview Farms is one of the reasons it works so well to host events there. Having a clean yard and the buildings close together creates a natural flow for visitors to meander through. 

In addition to hosting multiple breakfast on the farm events through the years, Pat and Joanna held their wedding reception on the farm, as did two of Pat’s siblings. 

The farm has always served as a place for community gatherings and celebrations. 

Pat recalls his parents opening the grounds for a rural life Sunday Mass in 1986, held by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The family was honored to host the Mass again in 2018.

The Bakeberg family may have hosted various events during the past 150 years, but they said the events would not be possible without support from the surrounding community. 

“Farming is community,” Pat said. “To me, they go hand in hand.”

As the couple looks to the future and the raising of the potentially sixth generation of family farmers, Pat reflects on the past. 

“It’s cool that we are still an operational dairy farm,” Pat said. “Not too many people can say they have had five generations on their farm.”

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