The Chatham-Kent Plowing Association is set to celebrate its 80th annual plowing match on Saturday, and wants you to be there to share the fun.
Brian Sterling, president of the Chatham-Kent Plowing Association, said there will be a slew of different plowing contests, as well as queen and princess of the furrow competitions, 4-H Club events, a food booth,
It all takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Buis Beef Ranch on Seventh Line, east of the Buis Beef store.
Plowing has advanced a great deal in the past 80 years, and a variety of plowing techniques will be on display – regular conventional plowing, reversible plowing and antique plowing.
Regular plowing is just as it sounds, Sterling said.
“It’s the closest thing to what you would see in a farmer’s field. We have some large plows and some smaller ones, which are quite popular in competitive plowing,” he said.
As for reversible plowing, it is as complex as it sounds, Sterling said.
“It’s a plow you can actually turn upside down and plow in the other direction. It’s very unique, not something you see much of in Ontario,” he said. “It’s a lot more complicated, but really interesting to watch. It’s definitely something to see.”
Sterling added few people use a reversible plow outside of at matches.
“This is very specific to competition plowing. The cost to have a large plow that is reversible … that’s a large cost.”
With antique plowing, it can range from the use of antique tractors and plows to actual teams of horses pulling a walk-behind plow, and the competitor guiding it, and the team, by hand.
“I think we’ll actually see a couple of horse plows come out. We usually have a few,” Sterling said. “We also will have antique tractors with pull-behind plows. This is very popular.”
Judging of the plowing events is far from a simple process. Sterling said there’s a large score card out of 200 points, with five different steps in plowing on what competitors are judged.
There is also the Queen of the Furrow competition – the person who is the face of the plowing association, Sterling said. Competitors are between the ages of 17 and 23.
They will be joined this year by the Princess of the Furrow, where competitors are 11-15.
“For the first time, we’re adding the Princess of the Furrow competition. It’s a young age group, to get younger girls involved in the process,” Sterling said. “The queen is kind of like their mentor. They get to learn speaking skills, attend different events to promote our organization too.”
Sterling stressed the variety of activities is geared to entice more spectators.
“There’s quite a variety. We really tried to expand so there’s something for everybody,” Sterling said. “We’re really trying to get more of the general public to come out. There is a big disconnect from rural to the urban areas. That’s why we are trying to have more things.”
Those include horse and carriage rides, agricultural displays, the 4-H displays and food booth.
