State trooper rescues farmer from floodwaters

A Minnesota state trooper used a raft to rescue an 86-year-old farmer from a flooded field near Madison in western Minnesota.

Lac qui Parle County Sheriff Dallas Schellberg says officers were told Thursday that the farmer had gotten stuck while driving his tractor in the field.

First-year trooper Kristopher Paluch roped himself to an inflatable raft and waded into the water, which at times was above the trooper's head.

The trooper freed the farmer and guided the raft out of the field as a sheriff's deputy, emergency responders and bystanders helped pull the two out.

The farmer was not hurt but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.