Canadian Plowing Championship returning to Manitoba

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This article was published 14/04/2022 (1273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in a decade, the Canadian Plowing Championship will be returning to Manitoba.

Set to take place in Rivers, the Canadian Plowing Championship will feature teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba. The event will include tractor plowing but no horse pulling, according to Tom Ryall, president of Manitoba Provincial Plowing Association.

The Canadian Plowing Championship runs from May 1 to 6, north of Rivers. Ryall said it marks the first time the competition has taken place in Manitoba since the last contest in 2012 near Kemnay.

Organizers are expecting 14 competitors to come to town along with their equipment. Competitors will begin plowing each day at 9:30 a.m.

Teams will be competing in two plow classes: conventional tractor and reversible tractor.

The winners in both classes will represent Canada at the world match in Estonia in 2023. Ryall said about 30 countries are expected to compete. Each participating country can send two competitors, one in the conventional class and one in the reversible class.

A full week of events has been planned for those attending the Canadian Plowing Championship. The week will kick off with two days of practice rounds and finish off with three days of competition.

The championships officially begin with an opening ceremony on May 4 that includes a flag-raising and dignitary speeches. Tours of the Westman community will also be available that day.

“It showcases Manitoba to the other provinces,” Ryall said.

Each championship class will include a tractor pulling a plow. Teams are given three hours to plow a half-acre of soil.

“It is all about quality of work, it’s not about speed,” Ryall said. “Straightness is very important and where you start and where you finish your plot, it must be neat and tidy. All the grass stubble must be underground and all buried and when you walk, the ground must be farrow.”

Each plot plowed must match almost identically to the previous one.

During the conventional tractor class, competitors will come up the left side of the field and down the right using a clear starting and exit point.

The reversible class involves a plow coming up one side of the field followed by a competitor flipping the plow to reverse down the same track.

“It’s a faster way of plowing a field,” Ryall said.

A fundraiser auction will be held on May 5 at the Rivers Legion Hall to raise funds to send teams to Estonia.

“It costs a lot of money to transport equipment, or even to just fly there and rent equipment is still expensive.”

Ryall will be competing in the championship using his restored 1974 Ford 5000 tractor. Competitors will be using all types of tractors during the event. Competitors often choose the tractor based on what best suits their plow.

Ryall, who hails from Ireland, has been plowing since the 1960s. He moved to Canada in 2000 with his wife and six sons after buying a grain farm in Rivers.

“I’ve been plowing for a living and plowing for a pass-time in Ireland for years and years,” Ryall said. “I just like doing it. It’s a challenge, I just like to keep my hand in.”

His father also competed in plowing and appeared in the world match in 1955 in Ireland.

Competitive plowing dates back to at least the mid-1800s, he said, as a competition between local farmers to see who could plow the straightest and neatest lines. The sport began with horses but is now conducted using tractors.

For the Ryalls, plowing is considered a valued family tradition. Ryall learned to plow from his father, and three of his sons have taken up the trade as well.

“It’s part of my life and my history.”

He brought his plow with him from Ireland when he moved. When he arrived in Rivers, Ryall worked to bring competitive plowing to the area.

“A bunch of us got together and we revived it here.”

The first year of competition saw six people compete and they have held a match every year since, he said, aside from during the pandemic.

It has been complicated planning for the return of the Canadian Plowing Championship to Manitoba, especially because the region is facing a later season for the craft.

“This year it looks to be a late-year,” Ryall said, adding organizers are expecting good conditions for competitors at the start of May.

Another challenge has been finding land to plow in Manitoba.

“Plowing is not practised here anymore,” Ryall said.

Plowing is an expensive job to do and there is pressure to begin seeding in Manitoba as soon as the weather allows, Ryall said. Plowing the soil adds an expense, and zero-till seems to work better in the province compared to plowing.

They are hoping to see spectators come out to watch the Canadian Plowing Championship to learn more about the craft.

“Come out and see what’s happening,” Ryall said.

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