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THE MANAWATU Vintage Machinery Club Inc held its qualifying event on March 2 and an instruction/fun day on March 3, in a recently harvested wheat stubble paddock on the property owned by Adrian Noaro on Tane Rd, Opiki, Manawatu.
The event was well supported with many local and visiting competitors travelling from Waikato, Reporoa, Napier/Hastings and Wairarapa. There were 26 vintage tractors and ploughs and three competitors competing in the Case IH Silver Plough qualifying event.
There was an entry by Rebecca Noaro using a Ferguson T tractor and single furrow plough who, with assistance from a Norwegian woman friend, ploughed extremely well and they both enjoyed the day immensely.
Due to another event being held in Morrinsville, the usual horse competitors were unable to attend; their presence was missed by the many spectators.
The weather was fine and warm, with good ground conditions; the continual dry weather had not affected the peat soil like most of the region. The ground ploughed well provided the competitors did not plough deep. There was strong competition for the top positions with only one point separating 1st and 2nd in the vintage class.
The day was well attended with instruction offered by several experienced ploughman and judges. The improvements made by some of competitors were noticeable and appreciated by the ploughman involved.
There was a BBQ lunch supplied and sponsored by Claas Service Centre which was appreciated by everyone.
Ploughing champions Mark Dillon and Malcolm Taylor earned the right to represent the country at the World Ploughing Championships in Osijek, Croatia, on 5 and 6 September, after winning their titles at the New Zealand Ploughing Championships in Middlemarch in 2025.
Sean Leslie and Casey Tilson from Middlemarch, with horses Beau and Dough, took out the Rural News Horse Plough award at the Power Farming NZ Ploughing Championships at Horotiu, near Hamilton, on April 13-14.
The mood is relaxed as father and son ploughmen Paul and Derek Houghton get some practice in, but when the national championship starts this Saturday it will be a different story.
With our own National Fieldays only few weeks away, Rural News took the opportunity to take a trip overseas – as a guest of Enterprise Ireland, which invited 190 guests from 19 countries – to look at Ireland’s own national event, locally known as The Ploughing.
Ploughman Ian Woolly (Blenheim) and Malcolm Taylor (Putaruru) will represent NZ at next year’s World Ploughing championships in Ireland.
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