The World Ploughing Contest could potentially take place in association with the Irish national event this year, according to the general secretary of the World Ploughing Organisation (WPO), Anna Marie McHugh.
Speaking to Agriland, McHugh stated that it is “a possibility at this point in time”, after the majority of the WPO board voted to still go ahead with this year’s event, albeit in another location.
A WPO council meeting was held yesterday (Thursday, March 3) to start the formal process of cancelling the 67th World Ploughing Contest in Russia on August 13 and 14, 2022 due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
An Irish event is now under consideration and a decision is expected before the end of this month, McHugh confirmed.
“The Republic of Ireland is the biggest national ploughing association worldwide and if any country can make it happen in a short time, it would be [Ireland].”
Several meetings and an intensive consultation will be held with the National Ploughing Association (NPA) in the next couple of weeks, assessing whether it is feasible to have the contest.
McHugh added that the matter has to be looked at in detail, but there would be no change in date to the National Ploughing Championship which is scheduled for September 20-22, 2022 in Ratheniska, Co. Laois.
The world event would most likely take place on the second two days of the overall event, according to McHugh, who added that Ireland is “prepared to try and make it happen”.
Relocating the world contest
The general secretary explained that all factors need to be now presented to the WPO before conclusions can be made.
Speaking to Agriland, she further explained that if the contest was held in Ireland alongside the national event this year, Ireland would not again host the world contest in 2023, which is currently scheduled to do.
The World Ploughing Contest 2023 would then move to another country. She stated:
“The automatic process would be, if a country pulls out the next country on the host list is invited to hold the event. That is why the Republic of Ireland would have been the first country that got the option to consider hosting.
“It would be hoped that given over one year notice, that some other country would be able to plan and come up to host the event next year,” McHugh said.
It’s understood that other countries including Estonia, Macedonia and Norway are currently consulting with their own national ploughing associations to assess whether hosting the event in 2023 would be possible for them.
After being closed to spectators and exhibitors for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Anna Marie McHugh concluded that “it is a great opportunity to come back with a national and a world event”.