"This isn't us versus them, with farmers siding with union employees," says Scott Schultz, executive director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. "In rural farm communities, Walker's budget is hitting home in a number of ways."

Although unions and collective bargaining have strong roots in the farm industry -- the Wisconsin Farmers Union began in the 1930s -- Peck says Saturday's rallies are about more than preserving union rights.

Peck says many of those coming to Madison are upset by the realization that Walker's agenda is "sacrificing Wisconsin's quality of life for everyone, not just unions."

"There are other things going on here. If BadgerCare is wiped out or scaled back, a lot of these people won't have health care anymore," Peck says.

Roughly 11,000, or one in seven, farmers and their family members receive health coverage through BadgerCare, according to the Wisconsin Farmers Union.

The groups' concerns are valid, says the spokesman for one of the state's largest farm organizations, but he adds that their approaches differ.

Paul Zimmerman of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation calls Saturday's rally a "publicity approach."