Bring on the tractors
Fairgrounds to host Great Iowa Tractor Ride
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-Messenger file photo
The 21st annual WHO Radio Tractor Ride in June 2017 began in Jefferson with an early stop in Farnhamville and lunch in Dayton. The three-day event had 450 registered tractors participating. This year, the ride will be held at the Webster County Fairgrounds on June 21-24.
- -Messenger file photo Dale Gerken, a member of the Des Moines River Valley Antique Tractor and Engine Club, looks over a vintage Minneapolis-Moline tractor at the Webster County Fairgrounds in July 2018.
- -Messenger file photo by Lori Berglund Art Moeller, Fort Dodge, brought his International Harvester 706 to the Webster County Fair in July 2023 as part of the vintage tractor display set up by members of the Des Moines River Valley Tractor and Engine Club.

-Messenger file photo
The 21st annual WHO Radio Tractor Ride in June 2017 began in Jefferson with an early stop in Farnhamville and lunch in Dayton. The three-day event had 450 registered tractors participating. This year, the ride will be held at the Webster County Fairgrounds on June 21-24.
Hundreds of tractors and tractor enthusiasts will converge on Webster County in June for the WHO Great Iowa Tractor Ride.
The event will be held June 21-24 with the Webster County Fairgrounds south of Fort Dodge as its base, organizers announced.
“There will be big caravans of tractors,” said Kerrie Kuiper, executive director of Visit Fort Dodge.
She estimated that the event will draw about 400 tractors and about 750 people.
She said the tractor ride has a reputation for attracting multiple generations of tractor lovers.

-Messenger file photo Dale Gerken, a member of the Des Moines River Valley Antique Tractor and Engine Club, looks over a vintage Minneapolis-Moline tractor at the Webster County Fairgrounds in July 2018.
“It will be a whole family affair,” she said.
The ride is sponsored by WHO radio in Des Moines.
It was started in 1996.
Using the fairgrounds as base camp, each day of the event up to 500 tractors will set out on trips as long as 60 miles.
All makes and models of antique tractors can be part of the event. Registration forms are already available on the WHO Great Iowa Tractor Ride Facebook page.

-Messenger file photo by Lori Berglund Art Moeller, Fort Dodge, brought his International Harvester 706 to the Webster County Fair in July 2023 as part of the vintage tractor display set up by members of the Des Moines River Valley Tractor and Engine Club.






