The Wellington County Plowing Match doubled its number of participants this year, with 41 competitors breaking ground on Aug. 21.
The event, held on the farm of Joseph Peller on Wellington Road 29 southeast of Fergus, drew competitors in antique, modern and horse-drawn plow classes, with the antique tractor class having the steepest competition.
New this year was an open “Try-Plow” class where no opening split was necessary and any equipment was feasible. Secretary of the Plowman’s Association Carol Day said this event in particular created a draw for those new to plowing to come out and see what the match was all about.
“Anyone could come in with whatever equipment they had, even if they had an eight furrow,” she said. “They got a judging score to see how they did, but it’s not specific to any kind of plowing, it was just for fun.”
Staff from the Bank of Montreal were also on site during the competition to hand out the Ontario Farm Family award to the Day family, owners of Webfoot Farm and Hatchery Ltd. The Day family will now compete against 25 other families throughout the province for a spot in the top 10 Ontario Farm Families to be chosen at this year’s International Plowing Match and Rural Expo.
Day’s father Morris accepted the award on Aug. 21 and she said it’s nice to see him receive recognition for so many years of hard work.
“Dad is shy, he never wants to say much,” she said. “He doesn’t go out there to make a spectacle of himself or anything, but I think being recognized for something that he did way back when, building up over time, was actually quite nice.”
This was Day’s first year being involved in the organizational aspect of the match. As a previous director, she had only been a spectator and was amazed at the amount of work that goes into the event.
“I was new to the organization of this, so it was nice to pull off a good event for them and thankfully the weather held back instead of raining like it was supposed to,” she says. “I’m just thankful for those who helped out and the competitors for taking the time to come plow with us.”
Looking ahead to next year’s competition, Day would like to see the match turn into more of an event – for plowers and spectators alike. She says she would like to see representatives from the industry come down and set up booths, along with food vendors and equipment displays.
“A lot of the matches up north currently can be two days long and they’re quite involved. It’s a very big community thing,” says Day.
“In Wellington County we have so many attractions from festivals to concerts to fairs that the plowing match gets overrun … It would be nice to attract more people to come out and see it because it is different. It may not be as thrilling as a big concert, but it’s still quite interesting to see.”
The plowing match awards banquet will be held Oct. 24 at the Alma Community Centre at 7pm (tickets $15 at the door). There will be dinner, an awards ceremony and selection of the new Queen of the Furrow.
Results
Class 1A single plow open, horse
– 1st, Scott Thomas, Elmwood;
– 2nd, John DeKearn, Dublin;
– 3rd, Elwyn McGuire, Chesley.
Class 1B sulky class, riding plow horse
– 1st, Dan Gorrill, Oakwood;
– 2nd, Ben Bluhm, Hanover;
– 3rd, Julie Nellis, Owen Sound.
Class 2 tractors two furrows open
– 1st, Carman Weppler, Clifford;
– 2nd, Brian Davenport, Owen Sound;
– 3rd, Orville Fried, Plattsville.
Class 3 tractors two or more furrows not yet reached 20th birthday
– 1st, Nicholas Arnold Fisherville;
– 2nd Brent Bannerman, Monkton.
Class 4 tractors two or more furrows, under 18 years old
– 1st, Ben Henderson, Cambridge;
– 2nd, Jonathan Parkinson, Ariss.
Class 5 tractors three furrows open
– 1st, Harry Humphry, Ayr.
Class 11A Antique tractors and trail plows, tractor and plow must be at least 35 years old
– 1st, Ken O’Brien, Midhurst;
– 2nd Harold Walker, Sparta;
– 3rd Dennis Royle, Branchton.
Class 11B Antique Tractors mounted plows prior to 1960
– 1st, Don Nunnikhoven, Cambridge;
– 2nd, Brian Helkaa, Strathroy;
– 3rd, Tony Westbrook, Norwich.
Class 12 roll over plows
– 1st, Tom Evans, Tiverton;
Open “Try Plow”
– 1st, Art Davis, Rockwood;
– 2nd, Joe Kingdom, Rockwood;
– 3rd Ken Winter, Rockwood.
Class 13D Wellington County OPP and spouses
– 1st, officer Bob Nixon;
– 2nd, officer Pat Horrigan.
