Flaman Rentals Blog

The Great Saskatchewan Stuck in the Muck Contest

Posted by Jennifer Thompson Nov 09, 2010

With record rainfall across Saskatchewan this past spring and summer, many farmers found themselves in sticky situations.

“It’s no secret that everyone in the province was getting their equipment stuck in the mud,” says Jody (Joe) Kemp, with Flaman Sales in Southey.
 
Almost every customer he spoke with had gotten stuck at one point and Flaman Sales even had a waiting list for tow ropes. Kemp says his friends kept sending him photos of their tractor or sprayer caught in the mud, and each one was unbelievable. But he soon realized this wasn’t just happening in southern Saskatchewan – getting stuck in the muck was a province-wide epidemic.
 
“As farmers, we are all in this together,” Kemp says, adding he thought it would be neat to have a place where farmers could share their experiences. So Flaman Sales created the Great Saskatchewan Stuck in the Muck Contest, where producers can upload their best stuck photos on the Internet and have a chance to win great prizes.
 
“Getting stuck is depressing at the time, but when you look back at the photos afterwards you can laugh,” Kemp says, “If a guy was having a bad day and he sees a picture of someone 10 times more stuck than him, it might make him feel better.”
 
Farmers can visit www.stuckinthemuck.com to submit their photos and view and comment on the other entries. Starting December 6, the public can vote for their favourite photo and the top five photos will win a 50 foot, $469 tow rope. Flaman Sales will also be drawing for five more tow ropes from all the entries, so everyone has a chance to win.
 
“We feel for all of the farmers in the province and care about the wellness of our customers,” says Kemp. “This is a way to build community with the agricultural producers. If there’s someone in Estevan looking at photos from Yorkton, he’ll know we all had to deal with the same issues.”
 
In one of the worst stories he heard, Kemp says a farmer had a stuck sprayer, so a truck and trailer was brought in to unload the chemical. But the truck and trailer got stuck so a four-wheel drive tractor was brought in to pull it out. A backhoe was needed to dig out the sprayer, but it too got stuck and needed to be pulled out by the tractor. In the end, it took two four-wheel drive tractors to pull out the sprayer.   
 
“When they got that equipment out, people were cheering like the Riders had just scored a touchdown,” Kemp says. “I’ve talked to farmers who’ve been farming for 80 years and they all agree it’s never been like this.”
 
Producers can submit their stuck in the muck photos until Dec. 5 and there’s no limit to the number of photos you can upload. Voting will run from Dec. 6 to 20. Voting is limited to one vote per person per day. Visit www.stuckinthemuck.com for more details.
 
Posted in Division News | More articles by Jennifer Thompson

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