Entries are coming in from all sides for the event. Space for trade stands, shopping stalls and agricultural machinery demonstrations is being snapped up after many shows have been cancelled. As there are fewer to attend, visitors are actively looking for somewhere else to go and this year, the 70th British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival will give them something different than the norm.
Ploughing entries are coming from ploughmen and women from all over the country with some competitors travelling well over 400 miles to take part in the Championships from as far afield as Devon, the Isle of Wight and Kent.
They will compete in one of fifteen different ploughing classes over the two days – including world style conventional and reversible, vintage classes for trailing, hydraulic and classic ploughs, horticultural ploughing, crawlers, tractor high cut and magnificent heavy horses. There are also tractor club classes for Ferguson, Ford & Fordson and David Brown. In five classes, the top 10 competitors from the first day will take part in a Plough-Off Final on the Sunday to find the British Champion in each section.
There will be something for everyone alongside the ploughing competitions, from steam ploughing engines, vintage tractors and machinery displays and working vintage demonstrations. Machinery manufacturers and local dealers will have an area for demonstrating the most up-to-date machines they have for sale and for those farmers who want to shop or browse, there will be agricultural trade stands with everything from tyres to tools. More shopping will be available with shopping stalls and country crafts.
The site at Mindrum Mill is looking good and the crops are almost ready to be harvested. The 250 acre site is very close to the Scottish border, between Wooler and Kelso and is sown with wheat and oil seed rape. After a recent site visit, President of the Society of Poughmen, organisers of the event and host farmer, Ian Harvey said: “I have been planning the crop rotation around this great event since 2018 and there is a lot of local and national interest and excitement about the Championships coming to North Northumberland next to the Scottish border. It will be an honour to host such an outstanding event!”
Main sponsors of the Championships are Bridgestone/Firestone and Continental Tyres and further support has been given by Tama, Cereals Event, Ivor King, Friends of Ferguson Heritage and CBS.
The event is a huge outdoor affair, so social distancing should be very easy and it will be run according to government legislation at the time. For further information visit www.ploughmen.co.uk
See ploughing match preview in the September edition of South East Farmer.
