Playing in the mud

WINSTED, Minn. — When the weather went from warm and sunny to thunder and rain during the Winstock Country Music Festival, farmers came to the rescue June 16.

Tony Bakeberg, a dairy farmer who milks 230 cows in a double-10 parlor, rolled in with the engine of his 8245 John Deere tractor humming alongside other farmers that Sunday.

“That day we were there from 7 in the morning and got home about 3:45 to start evening chores,” Bakeberg said. “I know they were going longer than when I left.”

Bakeberg estimates that he helped pull out 70-80 campers, rescuing a minimum of five per hour. That day there were at least 20 tractors helping out.

“It seemed like once we started going everyone needed help,” Bakeberg said. “There were some people who said they weren’t even going to try. Just to hook them on and go. Plus, they kept their camper a lot cleaner if they didn’t even try to do it themselves.”

Some of the most interesting pulls for Bakeberg were RVs since they had to be pulled out backwards to prevent damage.

“It’s fun just to take them for a ride,” Bakeberg said. “I had to pull about eight or 10 of them.”

The crew pulling campers had all been there before and this year it went well, besides for one flat tire on a tractor. With the festival being known for bringing rain they were ready to help.

“For sure 15 of the years we had to help pull campers out,” Bakeberg said. “We knew if they got the rain on Saturday, it would not be a fun day Sunday.”

Bakeberg said farmers in the area plan their field work around the festival and the weather it will bring with it.

“It just goes without saying,” Bakeberg said. “It’s just Winstock weekend. We always side dress our corn the week of Winstock because we know it is going to rain. They even shifted it a week and the weather moved with it.”

Regardless of the weather, pulling campers out of the mud is one thing Bakeberg is grateful the festival encourages and allows them to do.

“At some other festivals it’s more of you’re on your own,” Bakeberg said. “Plus (pulling them out) gives you good stories to tell.”

Bakeberg enjoys the company of the other farmers and said they are a fun group and like pulling people out of the field. It also gives them a break from their normal routines on the farm.

“It’s something fun to do when we can’t get in our fields,” Bakeberg said. “We can at least get on the field one way or another.”

Bakeberg said it was easy for the pullers to tell how much experience people had with pulling or being pulled themselves because of the way they would try to hook up their vehicles or how they drove as they were being pulled.

“I tell people to just put it in neutral and steer,” Bakeberg said. “I looked back and one person had their tires turn(ed) sideways. I was just dragging their vehicle. Then some guys, you would back up and they would already have a chain or strap hooked up and ready to go.”

At the end of the day as campers were still being helped, he said most people were still having a good time, genuinely appreciative and patient.

“They all know we are out there trying to get them out as quickly as we can,” Bakeberg said. “Once we get to them all they have to (do is) hook up their vehicle to the tractor to remove liability from us. We will give them advice though.”

Bakeberg said it is fun to be out helping various people, from those who know nothing about farming to those who have their own farm.

“The people who don’t have an ag background, I think they think it’s a hoot to see the tractors out there,” Bakeberg said. “There are also a lot of farmers that attend the event too and they are appreciative that they see something familiar coming to help them.