Ploughing contest calls for uniform furrows
A FURROWED brow or two could be seen among the judges as they determined the top ploughing islanders.
Organised by the Guernsey Vintage and Classic Tractor Club, the ninth annual ploughing competition was a special one this year as the club celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Club secretary Graham Dorey, said: ‘We get out and do quite a few events throughout the year, like road runs, the Liberation Day Cavalcade, displays at the Folk Museum, but this is the one time where we actually get to use the tractor for what it is meant for.’
There are usually between 10 and 15 entrants into the competition who all arrive by tractor.
The competitors then plough a section of field and are judged on the firmness, seedbed, opening, start and uniformity.
The only requirement is that the tractor be either vintage or classic.
‘Each year for the past nine we have been holding a ploughing competition,’ added Mr Dorey.
‘Mostly people either bring single or twin furrow ploughs, there is little difference aside from the number of furrows.
‘The most you will likely find in Guernsey is five furrows but in the UK it can exceed way past this.’
Last year’s winner and third-time entrant, John Le Cheminant, was hopeful for the competition although he was conscious that after victory there is only one way – down.
‘This is my third year here but I have been ploughing almost all of my life,’ said Mr Le Cheminant.
‘I’ve got a Massey Ferguson 135 which has been in the family for, let me think, err, 49 years. I still use it quite regularly, but in the past it was our main tractor. They are ideal really, they’re very economical, and a good size for Guernsey.
‘The only problem is they are small and the machines they tow have got bigger. We use the field up here at La Masse because it is a corn field and that is ideal for ploughing.’
