NZ Ploughing Championship kicks off in Waikato this weekend

The competition site is ready for the Ploughing Championship this weekend. Photo / NZ Ploughing Championship 2024 Facebook page

It’s all go in Horotiu this weekend as the nation’s best ploughmen and women take to the field for the Power Farming New Zealand Ploughing Championship.

Hosted by the Waikato Ploughing Club, on behalf of the New Zealand Ploughing Association, the championship includes competitors who have qualified at a regional event around the country.

They will compete in four classes, Conventional, Reversible, Vintage and Horse ploughing.

The winners of the Conventional and Reversible classes will then be selected to represent New Zealand at the World Ploughing Championship in the Czech Republic in 2025.

The sport enjoyed national recognition this year with ploughing legend Bob Mehrtens making it as a finalist for Rural Sportsman of the Year at the 2024 Ford New Zealand Rural Sports Awards.

Mehrtens, from Timaru, has represented New Zealand at 14 World Ploughing Contests.

Although he didn’t take out the Rural Sportsman of the Year title, it was great to have ploughing “on the radar” at the awards, New Zealand Plough Association president Ian Woolley said.

He encouraged people to come along to the event this weekend to see the “skill, art and precision of the country’s top plough persons”.

Woolley said ploughing involved a high level of expertise and focus to avoid making mistakes.

“The total ploughing time to complete a plot is three hours, so there’s a huge amount of total concentration involved in completing the plot in time - otherwise, penalty points are applied.”

Organisers said the competition site was harvested last week when the team was busy marking plots and public areas.

The event is family-friendly and open to the public, with trade sites and food trucks available.

The New Zealand Ploughing Championship starts on Saturday, April 13, and finishes on Sunday, April 14, at 264 Crawford Rd, Horotiu.

The site opens both days at 7.30am, with a parade to plots at 10.15am, and the action kicking off at 11am.

Find out more at the NZ Ploughing Association website here.