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2023 Plowing competition set for Sarnia farm
- Lambton County Plowmen
- Aug 16, 2023
- 2 min read
Kevin Forbes and his family have attended plowing matches before, but never competed.
Now that they’re hosting this year’s Lambton County Plowing Match, at least some in his family are planning to give it a try, the Sarnia farmer said.
“It’s kind of neat experience being able to host an event like this,” Forbes said.
Expectations are 30-35 people overall will test how straight and neatly they can plow Sept. 2 in the competition set for the Forbesvue Farms field at the southwest corner of Waterworks Road and Confederation Line, said Linda Bryson with the Lambton Plowman’s Association.
Lambton plowing matches have been held since 1920, and 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the first International Plowing Match (IPM) hosted in Lambton, she said.
Others were held in 1973 and 1991.
Hopes are 300 to 500 spectators turn out Sept. 2, Bryson said, noting plowing starts at 10 a.m.
Various communities hold plowing matches in August and September where plowmen compete for points to enter the larger IPM competition, this year held in Bowling Green, in Dufferin County, Sept. 19-23.
Lambton Plowman’s Association president Allan Ellwood is among the circuit competitors, and said he’s hoping to make another 125 points to gain IPM entry.
“You do have the odd person who’s really serious and it’s fun to beat these fellas,” said the Sarnia farmer who’s been competing since 1986.
“But anyway, it’s tough.”
No-till farming means fewer farmers plow at all now, and doing so in competition requires some artistry, Bryson said.
“They’re like a family those plowmen,” she said. “It’s like a big reunion every year.”
Competitions and association presidency rotates through the municipalities in Lambton County every two years, so the last plowing match in Sarnia was in 2006, Ellwood said.
Attractions this year include antique tractors and plows, horse plowing, a Goodison steam engine, a steam threshing machine, and a Lambton Heritage Museum Display about John Goodison — who hosted the 1923 IPM on his farm, Bryson said.
People with older pickup trucks are invited to bring them out, and the competition finishes with a municipal class in which local mayors and their representatives have been invited to take part.
“Last year we had about six or seven that came out,” Bryson said, noting a tractor plow and a coach are provided.
“It’s a fun class,” she said. “It’s just people enjoy watching it.”
The day caps off with an awards banquet at Camlachie United Church, Bryson said.
More information is available at lambtonplowmens.ca.
~Tyler Kula~
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