2015 huron county plowing match

August 2015

JUNIOR DAYThursday, August 20, 2015

Junior Coaching 9:00 am - 11:00 am4-H Sodbuster Achievement Day

~ 12:15 noon - 3:00 pmPrincess Speeches ~ 1:30 pm

EVENTSFriday, August 21, 2015

Enjoy breakfast, tractor & horse ploughing,exhibitors, Queen of the Furrow speeches, children’s novelty

classes, Queen’s ploughing, banquet, awards, crowning of Queenof the Furrow, auction and so much more!

Hosted by Bill and Dan Haydenalong with

Huron County Warden Paul Gowing83419 Division Line, Port Albert, ON

Thursday, August 20 & Friday, August 21, 2015

88th ANNUALHURON COUNTY PLOUGHING MATCH

By Neil Vincent, PresidentOntario Plowmen’s AssociationI would like to invite you to the

88th Huron County PloughingMatch which is being held onThursday, August 20 and Friday,August 21 at the farm of Bill andDan Hayden at 83419 DivisionLine, Port Albert.

Our match is held over two days.The “Junior Day” occurs onThursday, August 20 and theOfficial “Ploughing Match”happens on Friday, August 21. Onboth days there will be a largedisplay of antique machinery.

The “Junior Day” consists ofcoaching in the morning from

9 - 11 a.m., the 4-H SodbustersAchievement Day starts at 12:15 p.m. and the speeches for thePrincess Competition are scheduledfor 1:30 p.m. The current HuronCounty Princess of the Furrow isNatalie Fear. We thank her forrepresenting the Huron CountyPlowmen’s Association at variousevents throughout Huron Countyduring the past year.

The Junior PloughingCompetition is the culmination ofmany hours of practice andpreparation. Congratulations to allof the 4-H members for their hardwork and dedication. Specialthanks to Brian McGavin, Henry

Grobbink, Melissa Veldman andDon Dodds for their guidance andcontributions to the club.

On Friday morning, breakfast isavailable on site from 7:30 a.m.until 10:00 a.m. The Fridaybreakfast and the lunch both dayscan be purchased from Stella’sBurger Bar’s food truck which willbe on site.

The tractor ploughing begins at9:00 a.m. and the horse ploughingbegins at 10:00 a.m. The ploughingcontinues throughout the day. Someof the antique equipment will bedemonstrating hobby ploughingduring the day on Friday. There willbe a variety of displays to visitincluding one promoting the 2017IPM which will be occurring inWalton.

The speeches for the QueenCompetition will commence at 1:00pm on Friday. Our current Queenis Ursina Studhalter and she will berepresenting us at the 2015International Ploughing Match(IPM).

The crowning of the 2015-2016Huron County Queen will be held

at our Friday night banquet whichis being held at the site of theMatch.

Many of our ploughers will alsocompete at other local matches andgo on to join Ursina in competitionsoccurring at the 2015 IPM at Finch,on Sept. 22 -26. Congratulations goto all of the deserving individualswho have represented and willcontinue to represent Huron Countywell at past, present and future IPMcompetitions. Many championshipshave been won by Huron Countyploughers.

Please join us at our PloughingAwards Banquet on Friday nightstarting at 5:00 p.m. with the mealbeing served at 5:30 p.m. Thebanquet is being catered by Barb’sCountry Catering and will occur atthe site of the match. Banquettickets are available from McGavin

Farm Equipment 519-887-6366,Hyde Brothers near Hensall , or bycalling Maja Dodds at 519-527-0686 or Joan Vincent 519-357-2336before August 6.

I wish to extend a huge thank youto the many volunteers who havededicated their time and energy tomake the 2015 Huron CountyPloughing Match a success. Wewould not be able to host such atremendous event without them.Thank you also to the numeroussponsors that assist us in ourendeavours.

I would like to thank Bill and DanHayden and family and HuronCounty Warden Paul Gowing forhosting this year’s match. I amlooking forward to anothertremendous event and wish all ofthe competitors “Good Luck” withtheir endeavours .

PAGE 2. HURON COUNTY PLOUGHING MATCH, AUGUST 2015.

Come to the 2015 Huron Ploughing Match

This year’s Huron County Ploughing Match will be held Aug. 20, 21in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh.

A hearty welcome to contestants,vendors and visitors to the

Huron County Plowing Match!

Thanks go to co-hosts Warden Paul Gowing, Bill and Dan Hayden

and all the volunteers.

“For the greatest of the great men is the man behind the plow.” - 1882 Music Hall song

Good luck to all our men and women Competitors!

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This special section is produced for the Huron County Plowmen’s Association by North Huron Publishing Company Inc.P.O. Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0519-523-4792

By Steve Corbett, Zone 3 Director

Ontario Plowmen’s AssociationWelcome everyone to Huron

County’s 88th ploughing match. Ibring you greetings from TheOntario Plowmen’s Association.

The OPA is the parent host of all

sanctioned ploughing matches heldin Ontario. The OPA also hosts theThe International Plowing Matchand Rural Expo each Septemberwith this year’s being held in theUnited Counties of Stormont,Dundas and Glenngary near thetown of Finch.

In 2016 the the IPM is inWellington County near Harriston.Huron County will host the IPM in2017 near Walton. Plans are wellunderway and the recruitment ofvolunteers has started.

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is hosting 2018 near

Pain Court. This spring a ploughing

information day was held in Finch for anyone interested incompetition ploughing.

After this year’s match we will beholding a tri-county meeting wherethe past, current and future IPM

committees meet to discuss whatworked well and what did not. Weconclude our year with our annualmeeting held in March.

Looking forward to seeingeveryone at this years county matchand hopefully many of you willjourney east to Finch for the IPM.

HURON COUNTY PLOUGHING MATCH, AUGUST 2015. PAGE 3.

OPA Director reports on provincial activities

Upcoming IPMs are in Finch in 2015, Wellington in 2016 andWalton in 2017.

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The eastern Ontario communityof Finch, near Cornwall, will playhost to the 2015 InternationalPlowing Match, Sept. 22-26.

Host association is the UnitedCounties of Stormont, Dundas andGlengarry. Local farmers havemade 1,000 acres available for thetented city, RV park, andcompetitive ploughing fields.

More than 150 ploughmen areexpected to compete in sevenclasses. In the tented city, 600 exhibitors are expected to offer a wide variety of displays,

goods and services.Entertainment includes Glengarry

fiddle Kelli Trotter and Stormont-born Nashville entertainer GregHanna.

A highlight will be a gala dinner,Saturday, Sept. 28 at the CornwallCivic Complex which will markthe 100th anniversary of 4-H inOntario.

The exact location is 14939Concession 3-4 Rd., just ofHighway 43 east of Chesterville(north of Hwy. 401.

Eastern Ontario hosts2015 IPM near Cornwall

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Best Wishes to all the Competitors

By Ursina StudhalterA year feels like a long time

when it first starts but then suddenlyit’s over and I must say I can’tbelieve my reign as the HuronCounty Queen of the Furrow isover. When it all started at the farmof Valerie, Matthew and JulieShortreed and their families, a yearseemed like a long time.

I was told this would be theexperience of a lifetime and it mostdefinitely was. I couldn’t have hadhalf as much fun as I did withoutthe support of a great number ofpeople. I’d like to give specialthanks to Marie McGavin and JoanVincent for even giving me thechance to have that whirlwindbutterfly-filled experience of vyingfor the crown in 2014 on one of thenicest days of the whole summer.

Huron County is a beautiful placefilled with amazing, talented andhard-working people. I had theopportunity to see many parts of thecounty and meet many people. Itstarted with the Blyth ThresherReunion in September where alovely gentleman carved a flowerfor me to make sure someonewould give me one during myreign. I was at the openingceremonies for Brussels Fall Fair aswell as the Seaforth Fall Fair. HenryGrobbink joined Natalie Fear, thePlowmen’s Princess, and myself ona rainy day through the Seaforthparade.

In October I had a lot of funmeeting many of the great people

that make Huron County famousfor its agriculture at the HuronCounty Federation of Agricultureannual meeting. It was a great nightwhere I learned a lot about so muchthat’s going on around the county.

I got my wish of driving a tractorin a parade in the Seaforth SantaClaus parade, with a T8.320 fromMcGavin Farm Equipment.Completely decorated with lightsand tinsel, as well as duals on therear axle, my ride ensured I wasdefinitely not cold that paradenight! I also participated in theBrussels and Wingham Santa Clausparade although with slightly coldermethods of transportation.

March came with the AnnualOntario Plowmen’s AssociationConvention in Cornwall. It was along but fun road trip. At theConvention, I met other Queensfrom across the province andlearned some new skills in theworkshops hosted by the Queenscommittee. I’m excited to representHuron at the IPM in September inFinch.

I had a chance to attend a HuronCounty Council meeting in June tobring greetings on behalf of theHuron County Plowmen’sAssociation and to invite councilmembers to the county match inAugust. At the Clinton Spring FairParade I accomplished one of mylast goals for my year, I rode myhorse through the parade withoutany incidents. That completed mywish list of how I wanted to travelthrough parades, with a horse and

with a tractor at least once.Being the Huron County Queen

of the Furrow made for an amazingyear. I learned a lot, met a lot ofpeople and saw a lot of Ontario,since the IPM this year will beseveral hours from home. It was theexperience of a lifetime and I’m

glad I got the chance to representthe Huron County Plowmen’sAssociation for the year. I wouldlike to thank everyone whosupported me this year especiallymembers of the association formaking this a memorable year.

I would like to wish this year’s

contestants the best of luck at thecompetition at this year’s match inAshfield-Wawanosh-Colborne. Iwas proud to represent thisawesome county I call home for ayear and be given the chance to bean ambassador for a big part of thelocal agricultural community.


Queen of the Furrow reaches goals for reign

Ursina Studhalter, (right) 2014-15 Huron County Queen of theFurrow is crowned at the 2014 match at Walton by outgoing QueenJackie Kernighan.

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Bryce TollAccount ManagerListowel and Huron County [email protected]

At this year’s Huron CountyPloughing Match, the event’sPrincess competition will play outfor the 10th time.

Created by George and RuthTownsend in 2005, the event wasfirst sponsored by MGM TownsendTire in Londesborough in an effortto get girls aged 12 to 16 involvedin the world of competitiveploughing.

At the time, George says, the 4-HSodbusters Club existed, but it wasfull of boys and there weren’t manyways for girls to get involved withthe event.

Now, he says, times have changedand many girls join the Sodbustersand try their hand at competitiveploughing, performing on a levelplaying field with their malecounterparts.

In 2005, however, the Princesscompetition served to teach youngrural girls about ploughing and toperhaps give them a bit of a headstart on the Queen of the Furrowcompetition, aimed at girls betweenthe ages of 17 and 24.

The Townsends, who have beeninstrumental in the world of HuronCounty ploughing for decades, saidthe initiative was personallyimportant to them when they wereyoung parents, as they had a youngdaughter who wanted to be

involved, but wasn’t sure exactlywhere she fit into that world.

George says that the Princesscompetition also helped fill out theschedule of the event’s Junior Day,aimed at engaging youththroughout Huron County, andbeyond.

From the very beginning, Ruthsays, people were very supportiveof the program. Members of theHuron Plowmen’s Associationwere encouraged by the Princesscompetition and young localwomen were becoming interestedin taking part in the competition.

As the years have gone on, theTownsends say, they have seen theresults of the Princess competition,whether it be in friendships forgedby Princess contestants, or Princessgraduates moving on to try theirhand at the Queen of the Furrowcompetition.

In fact, this year, Kabrina Bishop,2007 Princess, will be involved inthe Match’s Queen of the Furrowcompetition. Bishop has sinceremained involved with thePrincess competition, helping Ruthto organize the event and recruitnew contestants year after year.

Every year, George says, Ruthmakes dozens of calls, attemptingto recruit contestants and keepgrowing the competition. Ruth,however, insists that it’s a teameffort and that there’s no way thecompetition could have survived for10 years without the hard work of

countless volunteers.Princess contestants tend to spend

a lot of time together over thecourse of Junior Day and also thenspend the next day of the Matchselling 50/50 tickets and talking topeople attending the match.

George says that the Princesscompetition has really served as aconfidence booster over the yearsand he and Ruth have been able toactually see the change incontestants.

“It’s fantastic to see,” Georgesays. “Because it’s not easy whenyou’re that age to stand up in frontof 300 people at the banquet andeven say your name, let alonespeak.”

As part of the competition,contestants are asked to present aone- to two-minute speech on atopic of their choosing and then gothrough an interview with a three-person panel of judges.

Then, of course, the winner isasked to attend parades and eventsall on behalf of the HuronPlowmen’s Association.

Over the years, Ruth says, anumber of Princess contestantshave gone on to try their hand at theQueen of the Furrow competition,meaning that “the plan” seems to beworking.

At this year’s Match, reigningPrincess Natalie Fear of RR4,Brussels will relinquish her crownto one of five contestants in thisyear’s competition.


Princess competition has given young girls confidence

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A warm welcome to everyoneattending the 88th Annual

Huron County Plowing Match

Congratulations to thePlowmen’s Association on their

88th Huron County Plowing Match

By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen

The Port Albert area, where thisyear’s Huron County PlowingMatch will be held, was the sceneof one of the most famous matchesin the history of the InternationalPlowing Match (IPM).

Because of Second World Warrestrictions such as gasolinerationing, there had been no IPMsince the 1941 event nearPeterborough. Huron County hadbeen supposed to host a match in1942 between Londesborough and

Seaforth but it was cancelled. During the war years Gordon

McGavin of Walton was thepresident of the Ontario Plowmen’sAssociation and in 1946 he had aperfect, if unusual location for thefirst post-war IPM, named “TheVictory Match” – the abandoned airforce base at Port Albert.

As part of the BritishCommonwealth Air Training Plan,parts of seven farms on the east sideof Highway 21 at Port Albert hadbeen purchased in 1940 and turnedinto the Royal Air Force AirNavigation School where from Oct.

1940 to Feb. 1945 advancednavigation techniques were taughtto classes of 1,200 navigators at atime from all the allied countriestraining for their roles with bombercrews. Even before the war ended,training at the base had been scaledback as the allies beat back NaziGermany. In 1946 the base wasdeclared surplus but before it wasdismantled it would have one lasthurrah as home to the VictoryMatch.

It was a convenient venue interms of accommodating the


Ashfield hosted historic ‘Victory Match’ in 1946

In 1946, the former air force training base at Port Albert hosted the historic “Victory Match”, the firstInternational Plowing Match held after World War II. Cars parked on the former runways. The hangarshoused the exhibits.

Continued on page 7.

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match because the old runwayscould be used for parking up to10,000 cars while four large aircrafthangars would provide lots of roomfor exhibits without the need for theTented City we’ve become familiarwith these days.

The Goderich Signal-Star ofFeb. 26, 1946 first announced thatthe IPM would be coming to PortAlbert from Oct. 15-18. Among thecommittee planning the event wereMcGavin, Hugh Hill, who was incharge of the plowing, GeorgeFeagan and Huron County WardenR.E. Shaddick. W.T. “Doc”Cruickshank, founder of CKNXradio, was chair of the publicitycommittee

On May 23, the paper alsoreported that John Hanna, the localMPP had announced there wouldbe $1 million in road constructionin his riding that summer whichwould include paving Hwy. 21from Port Albert to Amberley,helping to speed visitors to the site.

On July 24, The Signal-Starreported that the Governor-Generalof Canada Field Marshal LordAlexander would be on hand toofficially open the match on Oct.15.

As the match neared, moredetails of the planning werereported. The Sept. 17 Signal-Starreported on a discussion during aplowing match host committeemeeting about accommodation. The

committee planned to host 400people by billeting them in localhomes but the accommodationchair said some of the housewives,who would bear the work, didn’tthink the $1.25 per night theywould receive was worth it. Whenhe suggested the charge might beincreased to $2, one committeemember was quoted as saying “Idon’t think that charging $2 isshowing much hospitality to ourvisitors”. Nevertheless, thecommittee voted to allow people tocharge up to $2 a night.

Admission to the match wouldbe 50 cents per car, with passengersfree. The committee was hoping forthe best-attended match ever, theprevious record being 170,000people at the 1940 match at St.Thomas.

Also requiring major planningwas a banquet for 1,000 on theFriday night of the match.

On Sept. 26, The Signal-Starreported that a record number ofcompetitors were expected for thematch because the first and secondplace winners in the topcompetitions would win a free tripto Great Britain. On Oct. 3, it wasreported that a log sawing contestwould be part of the IPM as theNational Employment Service triedto make farmers’ sons and othersaware of opportunities to go northto work in lumber camps.

On Oct. 10, The Signal-Starpublished a special section for the

match and also announced that theGovernor General would bearriving in Goderich on the noonCanadian National Railways trainon Oct. 15.

Attendance the opening day wasreported at 80,000, the largest everone-day attendance at the time. TheSignal-Star reported bumper-to-bumper traffic from Goderich toPort Albert. One of the things thatwas not so ideal about the oldairport site, only a mile from theLake Huron shore, was that peoplecould come to it from only threedirections. As well, when you seethe modern Hwy. 21 travelling overthe beautiful sweeping concretebridge over the Nine Mile River atPort Albert, it’s hard to picture thebottle neck of those days when thehighway travelled on a circuitousroute through the centre of thevillage and over the old iron bridgethat can still be seen in downtownPort Albert today. In God Speed thePlow, The History of the OntarioPlowmen’s Association, it’sreported that traffic trying to enterthe grounds was backed up all theway to Sheppardton, four miles tothe south and to Dungannon, in theeast.

In his history of the Port Albertair base, Eugene McGee points out

that such a celebration after theyears of war-time deprivationbrought out people in droves. Theywere celebrating an end to rationingof gasoline, sugar and butter andother hard-to-get items. At thematch they were also able to seedisplays of the first new cars inyears, now that automobileassembly lines were returned totheir original purpose after beingturned over to weapons productionduring the war.

As well as traffic, there wasother evidence of the huge crowds.The Signal-Star reportedrestaurants in Goderich wereinundated by huge crowds withlong lines waiting to get in. NorthStreet United Church was servingmeals to visitors but had to turnpeople way on the Wednesday.Grocery stores and meat marketswere busy, and there was another

measure of the added business theVictory Match brought that we’dnever measure today: operators atthe Bell Canada office in Goderichreported three times as much calltraffic as normal.

After such an enormous openingday crowd it seemed the previousattendance record was bound to betopped but then it started to rain andattendance fell. (I remember mymother telling stories of every shoestore for miles being sold out ofrubber boots.)

In the the long run, the four-dayattendance reached 140,000, wellshy of the goal of beating the St.Thomas record.

Once the match was over thebuildings of the air base were soldoff and moved away and withinyears it was hard to see evidencethat the old air base had everexisted.


Wet weather crushed hope for attendance recordContinued from page 6.

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The Citizen

The Huron County PloughingMatch is the first stepping stone toa much larger ploughing world andPaul Dodds of the Winthrop areawent all the way to its pinnacle lastyear.

Dodds attended the WorldPlowing Competition in Saint JeanD’Illac in Bordeaux, France lastAugust and said that thecompetition was fierce at the globalevent.

“It was really stiff competition,”he said in an interview with TheCitizen. “There were someexceptional ploughmen there. Itwas probably near what I thought itwas going to be, but just a littletougher on top of that. Until you’rethere, however, in the competitionit’s tough to anticipate.”

Dodds said that, on top of the stiffcompetition, the earth in Francewas as foreign to him as the nationitself.

“The soil was really, reallysandy,” he said. “A lot of the guysdescribed it like ploughing on abeach. It was different than whatI’m used to and the ground didn’thold together the same assomething that has more clay orbody to it like the ground here athome. It definitely made for achallenge.”

Challenges, however, are nothingnew to Dodds who had to win at thelocal, provincial and national levelsprior to making his way to theworlds, where he finished 20th.

The ploughing was fun,

according to Dodds, but the tripitself presented a uniqueopportunity as well.

“The trip was a great experience,”he said. “Everything was fun. Therewasn’t anything in particular thatsticks out, it was just enjoyable.”

The fun, however, was secondaryto the ploughing which is more thanjust jumping on a plough andhitting the fields.

Dodds said he spent the first fivedays of his trip receiving, sortingout, rebuilding and practicing withhis equipment which had to beshipped overseas.

“After that, we had some time torest and take some tours and thenwe were on to the competition,” hesaid.

Part of what made the trip funwas making new friends, but oldfriends weren’t far away other.While he was half a world awayfrom home, Dodds was far fromalone on the foreign shores. Doddshad his family and friends andemployers, the McGavin familythere.

“It was great to look up and seethose people on the headlandswatching,” he said. “For them tocome all that distance to be therewas just amazing.”

Dodds said that he enjoyed theopportunity to meet hiscompetition. He said that, whilecompetitors were serious, everyonewas friends before and after theevent.

“It was quite easy to get alongwith everyone,” he said. “It wasgood to meet people like that.”

Dodds wasn’t eligible for this

year’s world ploughing match as hefinished third in the InternationalPlowing Match outside of Barrielast year, however he said he stillhas aspirations of representingCanada again.

“It’s definitely something I canrepeat,” he said. “That said, at thispoint it’s a once-in-a-lifetimeexperience and anyone who gets theopportunity should do it and doeverything they can to enjoy it. It’swell worth it.”

While Dodds’ journey to theWorld Plowing Match started witha win in Huron County in a longersense it started with family yearsago.

Dodds father, Don, has beeninvolved with ploughing for yearsstarting when he was ploughing inthe 1950s and more recentlybecame a judge.

In Huron County the Doddsname is synonymous withploughing and has been for years asboth Paul’s father and his mother,Maja, are involved in the ploughingmatches. Don as a coach and Majathrough her work with the Queenand Princess of the Furrowcompetitions.

Dodds making it to the worldchampionship was just a naturalextension of the involvement thathis family has become known for.


Dodds says competing at WorldPlowing Competition great experience

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a successful Plowing Match

By Denny ScottThe Citizen

The hosts of the Huron CountyPloughing Match this year arehappy to be celebrating another ina long line of firsts on and aroundtheir family farm.

Bill and son, Dan Hayden will beworking hard to get their familyfarm at 83419 Division Line inAshfield-Colborne-Wawanoshready for the Huron CountyPloughing Match later this monthand, for the first time in collectivememory, it won’t be held in theHuron County Warden’s

municipality.Paul Gowing, of Morris-

Turnberry, is the first Warden to beelected under a new two-year term.Typically, the home municipality ofthe Warden hosts the match;however, this year, the Hayden’sAshfield-Colborne-Wawanosh farmwas chosen.

The farm has been a family farmfor five generations and Bill,alongside Dan and his wife Bridgetand their children seven-year-oldCarman, four-year-olds Anthony

and Sebastian are happy to playhost to the entire event. Bill’sdaughter Della, who is fromBayfield, will also be in attendancewith her husband John Vanderhaar.

“I was talking to Brian McGavinand he asked if we knew anyone inour area that would be able to hostthe event,” Bill said. “I said wecould do it. It wasn’t planned. Wehad planted wheat, but it turned outokay.”

It turns out that organizers werelooking for a northerly farm so theycould play with the date for a whileand, being asked by the McGavins,a family that Bill and Dan have

known for a long time, made it easyfor Bill to say yes.

Being involved is just somethingthat the Hayden family has donenaturally, so they are lookingforward to this opportunity eventhough their involvement with thematch and competitive ploughing ingeneral has waned in previousyears.

Their family farm, which hasbeen worked for over 125 yearssince Bill’s great-grandfathercleared the original cedar swampand installed wooden board drains,has seen its share of firsts.

From the steps of the house, Bill

and Dan can point out a number ofunique developments on theirproperties: a natural gas well wasdrilled in 1977; in 2001 the firstprivately owned wind turbineerected in Ontario which is a Vestas660 kilowatt that is smaller thanmost of the others that can be seenaround the area and producesapproximately one-third theelectricity of newer models and ameteorological tower that, over thelast several years, has been part ofa Huron County project to study thecommercial production of vitisvinifera grapes.


Host family has been farming 5 generations

Bill (left) and Dan Hayden will host the 2015 Huron CountyPloughing Match, Aug. 20, 21. Their farm (inset) provides perfectconditions for the match.

Continued on page 11

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To be in charge of the HuronCounty Plowmen’s Association(HCPA) and, by extension, theHuron County Ploughing Match,the group’s president needs to havea good knowledge of all thingsagriculture and current PresidentNeil Vincent certainly fits that bill.

Vincent, who is the Reeve ofNorth Huron and a former HuronCounty Warden to boot, comesfrom a family steeped inagriculture, meaning he knowswhat a rural event like theploughing match is all about.

Vincent has been involved withfarming organization andagricultural politics at variouslevels throughout his lifetime andhe says that his family, whichincludes his wife and HuronCounty Federation of AgriculturalPresident Joan and his daughterMargaret who is Member Services

Representative for Huron and Perthfor the Ontario Federation ofAgriculture, has expanded its roleto really be a part of Huronagriculture at every level.

Coming from a family that hasfarmed in the area for decades,Vincent can trace his roots backthrough both sides of his families tothe land.

“We’ve always had farming, butwe’ve also been involved in someother community-building aspects,”Vincent said, pointing to the factthat he had been involved with bothagriculture and municipal politicssince he was a young man.

While Vincent has been a part ofthe agriculture and politics since hewas 22 years old, and worked onboth soil issues and other farmingconcerns, his involvement with theploughing match and HCPA hasn’tbeen quite as long-lived.

Margaret became Queen of theFurrow through her involvementwith 4-H, which she had

participated in, along with herparents, for several years.

“I was more interested in gettingto a hockey tournament,” she saidin an interview with The Citizen.“But when I was asked, I said Iwould stop by and see what it wasall about.”

After meeting of theapproximately one dozencontestants for the title, Margaretthought it was something she couldbe part of and eventually capturedthe crown.

Her winning and competing leadher parents to become involved,Neil as a member and eventuallypresident and Joan as a member ofthe Queen of the Furrowcommittee.

Both Neil and Margaret said theyhave a tendency to keepinvolvement with organizations like4-H and the HCPA despite newobligations and responsibilitiespopping up.

“After being Queen of the Furrow

and after being involved in the 4-Hclubs, it’s just too much to walkaway from,” Margaret said.“There’s too much camaraderie andthe sense of community is verystrong.”

Through her time as Queen of theFurrow, Vincent found thosesentiments were what makes HuronCounty special.

“The pride here is so strong,” shesaid. “I learned that through beingQueen here and competing.”

She also said that, through hertime as Queen, representing HuronCounty, she found that not everyonewho lives in Ontario knows whereher home is, but every farmer does.

“You know, if you’re talking topeople you might have to say northof London and leave it at that,” shesaid. “If you’re talking to someonewho knows agriculture though, youcan say Huron County because theyknow about us thanks to the voiceslike my mom and dad who comeforward.”


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The Vincent family (seen earlier this year) are heavily involved incommunity and farming activities. Neil (left) is president of the HuronCounty Plowmen’s Association, Margaret (centre) is OFA FieldRepresentative for Huron and Perth and Joan (right) is president of theHuron County Federation of Agriculture.


Ontario has themost diverse

agricultural sectorin Canada,producing

200 commodities.

The family farmland issystematically tiled and is currentlyused to grow corn, wheat, redclover and non-GMO soybeans.

The family farm has grown tonearly 900 acres. They also rent andsharecrop another 200 acres nearby,and do custom crop work so theyare no strangers to fieldworkincluding ploughing. While theydon’t have firsthand experiencewith ploughing matches, they havemany awards from various tractorpulling competitions to prove it.

The home farm is consists of 200acres, 175 of which will be left aswheat stubble for the match.

“They want a place to be able tohave it all in one place and, with thebuildings and the ground, wefigured it would work well,” Billsaid.

Dan lives a block north of thehost farm and, while he is infarming more now, for the past 13years he worked for turbinecompanies maintaining localprojects. Last fall he resigned as amanager for the Kingsbridge WindFarm so he could spend more timefocusing on farming and family.

Dan also has a small contractingbusiness supporting wind turbinesite operations and maintenance.

Dan said that he enjoyed the workas it allowed him to meet newpeople, travel, learn new skills andinvest his off farm income back intothe family farm.

The Haydens utilize traditionalplanting methods and no-till aswell, so they have equipment forboth. Their 64’ x 140’ implementshed that houses the farmequipment will be cleared out tohost the banquet, the Queen of theFurrow and Princess competitions,

as well as several meetings prior tothe ploughing match. The shed wasbuilt in 2008 as it replaced a barnthat was lost to fire.

“We lost the barn and three silosfull of feed,” Dan explained.“However the 160 head of beefcattle were chased out and saved.”

The afternoon their barn burned,the Hayden family saw what theyalready knew; how great theircommunity is when neighboursarrived on scene to help them withtheir livestock. They’re lookingforward to returning the communityspirit by hosting this event.


Tragic barn fire proved thevalue of good neighboursfor Hayden family

Continued from page 9

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A young competitor gets advice from his coach during a previousHuron County Ploughing Match.

Whether it be last year’sInternational Plowing Match (IPM)in Perth County which was the100th anniversary of the first matchbut not the 100th match, or the2017 IPM in Huron that’s the actual100th match, it’s often mentionedthat the discrepancy comes becausethere were matches cancelledduring the two world wars. What’snot often mentioned is that therewas a match scheduled for HuronCounty in 1942 which wascancelled.

In the spring of 1942 The BlythStandard, The Stratford BeaconHerald (and probably most otherlocal newspapers) announcedHuron County would be hosting itsfirst International Plowing Matchthat fall (the next nearest IPM hadbeen Perth County in 1930). Thesite chosen was the farm of L.W.Whyte on the eastern edge ofHullett Township, and surroundingfarms in both Hullett and nearbyMcKillop Townships. Since thematch was only months away, it’sobvious that there wasn’t quite asmuch planning required as todaywhen IPM sites are chosen fouryears in advance.

The site was almost the exactcentre of the county, being six miles

northwest of Seaforth and eightmiles northeast of Clinton.

The match was coming to Huron,the Beacon-Herald said, because of“persistent and diplomatic” efforton the part of the bid committeecomposed of AgriculturalRepresentative J. C. Shearer, J.D.Thomas of Goderich andrepresentatives of the Plowmen’sAssociations of North and SouthHuron.

The papers reported that 40farmers had signed agreements toallow their land to be used.

It was predicted that 100,000 ormore visitors would attend thematch along with 300 teams ofhorses and 150 tractors. Hotels inGoderich, Clinton, Seaforth, Blyth,Brussels and Hensall were expectedto be booked solid to accommodatethe crowd. The Commercial Hotelin Seaforth was chosen asheadquarters for the match wherejudges and officials would stay.

Ross McGregor of HullettTownship was in charge of billetingthousands who would be stayingmore than one day.

A special feature of the matchwas to be a banquet for 1,000 to beheld in either the Seaforth orClinton arena (Clinton was in themidst of building a new arena at thetime).

The committee of managementfor the match included many well-known names of that era: J.D.Thomas, Goderich, chair; J.C.Shearer, Clinton (Ag. Rep.),secretary; Elston Cardiff, Brussels,M.P. for North Huron; GordonMcGavin, Walton, president of theNorth Huron Plowmen’sAssociation; Bert Hemingway,

Brussels; Percy Passmore, reeve ofUsborne; and Roland Williams andWilliam Quinn representing thesouth end of the county.

Gasoline rationing had just beendeclared in April, 1942 in an effortto save fuel to help the armed forcesfight the war. That didn’t stop RossMcGregor from predicting successfor the match, however. In a storyin the May 1 issue of the StratfordBeacon-Herald he confidently said:“The International is going to be asuccess this year. Gasolinerationing will be a bit of a nuisanceand inconvenience but in times suchas these what are little troubles likethat. People won’t be able to go somany places but they’ll beattending the International PlowingMatch. There isn’t a farmer in theprovince of Ontario who can affordto miss this year’s International,just for its educational values alone,along the lines of teaching peoplehow to combat the troubles they areencountering in war time.”

But farmers never got the chance

to attend the match when it wascancelled. There wouldn’t beanother IPM until 1946 whenHuron County would play host,

using the site of the formerCommonwealth Air Training Plan Air Navigation School at Port Albert.


Huron was to have hosted IPM that never was

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Huron’s neghbouring county,Wellington, will host theInternational Plowing Match in2016 at a site on Hwy. 9 east ofHarriston.

The Wellington Countyorganizing committee has alreadyrevealed the first visible evidence ofthe match with the unveiling of theIPM 2016 Cookbook “A Fresh Tasteof Farming”.

An office for the organizingcommittee has also been opened atHarriston Motors, 235 Elora St.,Harriston where souvenirs are onsale. The office is open Wednesdaysand Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As always, the local committee isalso recruiting the hundreds ofvolunteers who will be needed tomake the match a success.

The match will be held September20-24, 2016. For more informationcheck out the website atwww.plowingmatch.org/home-2016.

By Keith RoulstonThe Citizen

Wellingtonto host 2016 IPM

By Natalie FearPrincess of the Furrow

Wow! I cannot believe that myyear as Princess of the Furrow iscomplete.

I had such an amazing yearrepresenting Huron County inseveral fun ways. One of myfavourite aspects of being princessfor the year was meeting severalnew people and building greatfriendships along the way. It’s sucha great feeling to be able to knoweveryone in your community, andbeing princess helped me tobroaden my horizons even more.Sharing a wave and a smile whenyou walk by a community member

is a great feeling.I also had a lot of fun visiting

local fall fairs and communityevents in my princess outfit. I wasable to meet and talk to several newpeople from other communities. Ilearned lots from those smallconversations such as people’sagricultural interests and the well-being of their community.

Another important part of myprincess duties was being inChristmas parades. I loved wavingto everyone who was watching theparades and smiling until my facefroze. Creating a float andparticipating in the parades with myfamily really put me into theChristmas spirit, and reminded meof the importance of friends, familyand community.

As I turn over my tiara thisAugust and head off to universitythis September, I am going to missGeorge (Townsend) calling me his“Princess” at every encounter, andwill never forget the importance ofcommunity and agriculture and willforever cherish the friendships Ihave made along my journey. I wishall the best to the next luckyprincess and I hope they make thebest of this year’s journey.


2015 Furrow Princess enjoyed exciting year

Natalie Fear

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Kabrina BishopKabrina was the 2007 Princess of

the Furrow and has stayed involvedin that program assisting co-ordinator Ruth Townsend. Thedaughter of Kevin and JacquieBishop of Bluevale, she also helpswith the Dungannon Horse Showand the Fair Ambassadorcommittee for the Brussels FallFair. She is an early childhoodeducator with the Avon MaitlandDistrict School Board at Listowel’sEastdale Public School and doesCommunity Support for Familiesrespite relief. She has been a 4-Hsheep club member and has shownsheep at the Royal Winter Fair aswell as playing baseball andcurling.

Eugenia Pentland Eugenia is the 17-year-old

daughter of Paul and RosemaryPentland and lives on the familyfarm near Nile with her six youngersiblings. She’ll be entering Grade 12 at St. Anne’s CatholicSecondary School this fall.Eugenia loves life on the farm and

hopes her future career will allowher to remain close to her ruralroots. She enjoys sewing andcrocheting and is also a historybuff. She’s a Flight Sergeant with532 Maitland Air Cadets and hasspent seven weeks this summerstaffing CFB Borden.

Holly BeckerHolly, the daughter of Lance

Becker and Liz Gras, R.R.1,Seaforth attended RidgetownCollege for Agriculture. In futureshe wants to continue to beinvolved in the agricultural sectorand to further develop her career infeed sales.


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THE BEAUTYAND BOUNTYOF HURONCOUNTYStunning photographsby 3 Huron Countyphotographers, including Brussels’ David Bishop, showHuron County as you’ve never seen it with aerial shots,wildlife, landscapes, nature. $40.00

Ontario has the mostdiverse agriculturalsector in Canada,

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Maisy JeffersonMaisy is the daughter of Gerald

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Rachel Nivins The daughter of Sharon and Jim

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Kate HigginsKate Higgins of R.R.5, Brussels

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For Don Dodds examining the cuts,straightness and various otherqualities of a well ploughed plot hasbecome an annual tradition.

Every year Dodds, who lives in theWinthrop area, takes to the fields toply his numerous years of expertiseas a ploughing judge to examine andevaluate every level of ploughing –from local competitions and 4-H clubpractices up to national competitions(although last year he bowed out ashis son Paul was competing).

Dodds has been involved inploughing for over 60 years now,having started himself as a youth inthe 1950s.

He explained that, when he wentaway to school, he stoppedploughing. When his own childrenstarted ploughing, however, he gotinvolved right away in coaching andthen, eventually, wanted to learnabout judging so he could bettercoach.

In the early 1980s, Dodds attendeda coaching school to further hisunderstanding.

“I learned as much as I could andwent through the scoring contests,”he said. “Within a year, I was askedby the Ontario Plowmen’sAssociation to be a judge.

“I guess I did too well at the judgeclasses,” he said with a laugh.

After that he was paired up withother judges before taking to thefields himself with a score-card inhand.

“Basically, I learned what was re-quired for a good plough, then I sawwhether it was there or not,” he said.

Beyond that, judging is difficult toexplain to people.

“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “Itbasically took a long time to learnwhat to look for and it’s just kind ofincorporating the changes I’ve

noticed over the years since then.”Some of the most important of

those lessons are of course thecategories and things looked forwhen scoring ploughing.

Scoring for a traditional plough issplit into five categories: the initialsplit, the crown, the general workaway from the crown, the finish andthe general appearance. Within eachcategory are specific scores forindividual aspects of the ploughing,each of which is worth 10 points.Category scores range from 20 pointsfor the first split up to 60 points forgeneral appearance for a grand totalof a possible 200 points, howeverDodds said that it isn’t likely anyonewill score that lofty number.


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Judges are looking for specificqualities when they judgefurrows at a ploughing match.


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“You don’t often see anythingperfect outside of the split,” he said.“People don’t see 10 points on theirscorecards, though you see 8s or 9s.”

The split, or the first cut made withthe plough, is judged on twoattributes; it’s straightness and it’s cutand uniformity.

“The straightness is a major pointnot just for the split but for ploughingin general,” Dodds said. “If you’renot ploughing straight, you could bein trouble. You can go back and fix it,so that’s still worth marks, but youwill still lose marks.”

The first split has to be judgedbefore the crown is established (or thehigh-point of the furrows, typically inthe middle of the plot) as it’sploughed under when making theplough.

The crown is a 40-point category

consisting of straightness, closenessand conformity, the amount of grassor stubble not buried and the soilavailable for planting.

“That’s of course the whole point –making sure that there is enoughgood soil to plant in,” Dodds said.

After the crown is completed, thegeneral work is started. Inspecting thegeneral work requires some up-closeinspection and this when the judgesare actually out in the field examiningthe work.

“You have to check the furrows andsoil stability and make sure you can’tsee grass and stubble,” Dodds said.“You also have to see how firm thesoil is. You can stand at the headlandsand not see all that so you have towalk the field testing things.”

Dodds added that this is one of theparts of the judging that really helpscompetitors understand what he’slooked for as he walks through it with

local 4-H groups.The second-to-last section is the

finish which really deals withmaintaining a happy mediumbetween extremes.

“The finish should be as narrow aspossible, making it easy to fill, andbeyond that it can’t be too deep or tooshallow, the available soil has to fill itin,” Dodds said.

The final category is generalappearance and it has to do with theplot as a whole.

“Everything on the land has to lookfinished and be straight and conform

with the rest of it,” he said. “Thereshouldn’t be any humps or hollows oranything like that.”

One of the categories that appearson some score cards, based on whatkind of plough is being used, is the “Ins and Outs” category in the

final section.“This is how fast the ploughman is

able to get into the working depth,”Dodds explained. “It used to be acouple of feet, now they like to see itdone within a foot. That’s


A judge explains what he looks for in a furrow

Points are given by judges for different parts of the process of making a furrow.

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why many people use hydraulics nowas they are quicker.”

Dodds said that reversible ploughsare scored differently because theydon’t need the same amount of workto get to the necessary working depth.

Beyond the final score there is thechance for penalties to affect theoutcome of a ploughing competition.

Dodds explained that, whenworking the final furrow, aploughman must cast off, or turn thedirt towards, his own crown insteadof his neighbour’s land.

“That last trip the furrow has to gotowards the crown or else it could

damage the work of a neighbour,”Dodds said. “It’s an important rulethat sometimes gets overlooked.”

Beyond knowing the scoring andthe penalties, Dodds said the biggestbenefit for ploughing judges is tohave ploughed themselves.

“Once you’ve ploughed, yourealize what’s involved with thesystem,” he said. “The longer you’reinvolved, the easier it becomes torecognize a well- ploughed lot.”

He also said that scoring goodploughing is much easier than scoringpoor ploughing.

“It’s a lot easier to start with aperfect score and work your waydown than it is to try and figure outwhether someone did half a job andthen modify it from there,” he said.

Despite that, he said that givingpeople marks they don’t deserve,especially younger ploughmen,makes for disappointment later on.

“If you’re giving marks that aren’tdeserved, you deceive them,” he said.“You have to be honest when lookingat the ploughing because, if peopleget good marks locally then move upin competition and get poor marks,it’s a real heartbreaker.”

Judges go to school every year tolearn any changes and to alsocommunicate with each other andmake sure they are on the same page,Dodds said, though some of thescoring is always going to be up topersonal preference because eachjudge is different.

Dodds has judged at every level inCanada and says that Ontario isfortunate to have the high qualityjudges it has.

“We have lots of organizations andlots of judges,” he said. “We have 20International Plowing Match judgesas well as local judges beyond that.

Ontario has the biggest organizationfor ploughing while other provincescontinue to have trouble.”

While it is a lot of work and it canbe stressful at times, Dodds said thatjudging is a great experience and onehe really appreciates.

“I have enjoyed doing it and I hopeI’ve helped the kids,” he said. “It’sstressful, especially at theInternational [Plowing Matching] andit’s not a job to be taken lightly, but itis something you can look back onand know you helped out.”

Dodds added that judging can befar more important than some peoplerealize pointing to the fact that hisown son, Paul Dodds, whorepresented Canada at the WorldPlowing Match in France last year,won his place by a two-pointdifference or, since the scorecards areout of 200, a one per cent difference.

“It’s important at all levels, but,when you get up to those levels, itseven more important,” he said.

As far as advice, Dodds said he hasbeen given lots, but one of the mostimportant lessons was one he wastold on his first day.

“When you’re leaving the fieldthere are only going to be, at most,two people happy,” he said. “There’sgoing to be the guy you put in firstplace and hopefully yourself if youknow you did a good job. That waspassed on to me on one of my firstdays as a judge and I won’t forget it.”


Scoring can be important when the margin of victory is narrow

Scoring good ploughing is easierthan scoring poor ploughing,judge Don Dodds says.

Welcome to the 2015


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Tori CuttingTori is the 12-year-old daughter

of Bryan and Susanne Cutting ofDungannon. She’s a Grade 7student at Brookside Public School.Her interests include horsebackriding, western gaming, hockey andfarming.

Haley GrummettThirteen-year-old Haley Grummett

is the daughter of John and GraceGrummett of Dungannon. She willbe attending St. Anne’s CatholicSecondary School. She enjoysspending time with her friends andfamily and also is active in lacrosseand swimming.

Emily TerpstraEmily lives with her parents Joe

and Barb Terpstra on a dairy farmoutside Brussels. She’s currentlyattending St. Anne’s CatholicSecondary School and is enteringGrade 10 this fall. The 15-year-oldplays soccer and volleyball and hasa passion for baking.


5 girls vie for title of HuronCounty Princess of the Furrow

Tori Cutting - Dungannon Haley Grummett - Dungannon Emily Terpstra - Brussels

More Princess of the Furrow contestants on pg. 20

Luanne McGregorLuanne is the 15-year-old

daughter of Steve and Anne MarieMcGregor, R.R.2, Kippen. She is agrade 10 student at St. Anne’sCatholic Secondary School. Shehas been a 4-H member for sixyears and is currently a member ofthe South Huron Sheep Club. Shealso plays broomball and soccerand enjoys camping with herfamily. She likes to babysit andvolunteers with severalorganizations.

Jenna Thomson Jenna is 12 years old and attends

Brookside Public School. TheDungannon-area resident enjoysriding and competing with herhorse Glimmer in western gamingat horse shows. She spendsweekends mucking out stalls atClinton Raceway and babysitting.She also likes spending time withher friends. She is the daughter ofRhonda and Bryan Ramsey andBob and Sherife Thomson.


Princess to becrowned Aug. 20

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By Maja DoddsPlowing demonstrations and

competitions in Huron County wereheld as early as 1848. Thesematches were held in associationwith Agricultural Societies.

The first Huron County PlowingMatch took place in the Brusselsarea in 1924. Annual matches havebeen held since, except for the fourwartime years.

Originally, there were twoorganizations – North Huron andSouth Huron Plowmen’sAssociations. The twoamalgamated in 1959 to become theHuron Plowmen’s Association.

Over the years, the match hasevolved into a two-day event.

Day one is Junior Day. Coachingfor Junior plowmen takes place inthe morning. The Juniorcompetition is in the afternoon andthis is also the Achievement Day forthe 4H Sodbusters Club.

As well the Princess of theFurrow Competition is held on thisday.

Day two features the variousclasses of plowing competitions inthe morning with a “fun” class inthe afternoon.

A garden tractor plowing classgives the children a chance toexperience “plowing”.

The Queen of the FurrowCompetition is one of the day’shighlights. The reigning Huron

Queen competes for the OntarioQueen of the Furrow title at theInternational Plowing Match (IPM)in September.

A mini tented city features various

exhibitors.Breakfast and lunch are available

on site. A banquet and awardspresentation and crowning of theQueen complete the day.

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Plowing is almost as old asagriculture itself. The designsadvanced with each majoradvancement in technology.

Tillage practices came intobeing to make plant domesticationeasier. Tillage loosens up the soiland aerates it. It also adds seedbeds and limits the amount ofweeds.

Tillage practices are divided intoprimary and secondary. Primary isdeeper and more thorough whilesecondary is shallower and moreselective. Plowing with amouldboard is considered aprimary tillage technique.

Aerated soil retrains moisturebetter as the soil particles are looseand water can penetrate it.

Weed control is very importantto all farmers. Plowing turns overthe soil. In that process, weeds areburied along with crop residue. Ina perfectly plowed furrow, the cropresidue should be completelyturned over.

The plow most commonly usedtoday is the mouldboard. Thedesign has been improved over timesince it was first developed in Chinaduring the Han Dynasty.

The oldest known plow about ison display at the State Museum in

Hanover, Germany and estimated tobe 4000 years old. It wasconstructed completely of oak.Most believe this is just the oldestfound relic but that there wereearlier plows as well.

Until the early 1800s, mostplows were made of wood. Thewooden plows would not last aslong as cast iron and within a fewdecades, steel.

Neil McGavin says many earlyplows had wooden frames. Thencame the steel frame with woodenhandles. McGavin says the woodenhandles on walking plows wererarely replaced with steel. “Theyliked the wooden handles,” he says. “To plow an acre, it was 10miles of walking,” McGavin says.Plowing an acre was the average


Advances in ploughing enabledcivilization to progress

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done per day with a walking plowbut it was possible to do two acresin one day, he says.

Today 14-furrow plows are largeare considered large but in the1800s when steam engines wererunning, this was normal. Howeverthey could only be used on the firmgrounds of the prairies.

The same firm prairie soil ledJohn Deere to making the first steelplow in 1838. He found that thewooden and cast iron plows did notlast as long in the heavy soil.

In the 1880s, riding plows cameon the scene. The standard was twofurrows but McGavin says withmore horses, these plows couldhave up to three furrows.

In the early 1900s, tractorsstarted to replace horses and steamengine custom plowing outfits. Atfirst the number of furrows was nomore than what horses could havepulled. McGavin says that as thetractors started to get bigger, plowsadded capacity for extra furrows.

McGavin’s father Gordon heldcourses on properly adjusting plowsto tractors as farmers switched overfrom horses to tractors. McGavinsays a two furrow plow that is notproperly adjusted is as hard to pullas a properly adjusted three furrowplow.

Lighter weight materialsbenefited the combustible enginetractors when they came into use.New advancements in horsepowerled to more rows being added.Currently most plows are five toeight furrows.

The mouldboard has been the

part most manufacturers have beenfocusing on improving the design toheap the soil better.

McGavin says, “rollover [plows]are big now, the Europeans like it.”He says it allows the fields to bemore level and has no dead furrowsas the plowing is continuous.

Soil savers and the chisel plowbecame popular in the 1970s withan increased interest inconservation tillage. McGavin saysthe only major difference betweena soil saver and chisel plow was thatthe soil saver had disks on the front.

Conventional tillage is defined asleaving less than 15 per cent cropresidue. Reduced tillage hasbetween 15 and 30 per cent residueleft. Conservation tillage aims to

leave more than 30 per cropresidue.

He says both the soil savers andthe chisel plow now have twisteddisks to cover the stalk.

McGavin says in the 1980s, no-till practices became popular.

At the plowing match much ofthe history of tillage practicescomes back to life. Machinerydealers show off the newestadvancements while avid plowmendemonstrate their skills with allkinds of plows ranging fromwalking plows to reversible plows.Plowing is still as much of afarmer’s annual list of chores as itwas thousands of years ago whencivilization changed from beinghunter-gathers to farmers.


Growing horsepower of tractorsled to bigger and bigger ploughs

Today’s tractors are so powerful they perform tillage at rates early farmers couldn’t imagine.Continued from page 21

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Organizers of the 2017International Plowing Match (IPM)have passed the theoretical halfwaypoint in the event’s planningprocess and are now just over twoyears away from the 100th IPM, tobe hosted in Walton.

It was on a cold day in January,2013, that Huron County Councilfirst pledged its support to the IPM,which, at the time, existed only asa bid to host the match – nothingmore than an idea posed by a smallgroup of dedicated volunteers.

The county committed $100,000to the Huron County Plowmen’sAssociation’s bid to host the eventand then in March, at the OntarioPlowmen’s Association annualmeeting, it was announced thatHuron County would host thematch. Later that year, Walton waschosen as the host community.

Now, two years later – halfwaythrough the four-year planningprocess – the IPM is just over twoyears away and planning has beenratcheted up.

Bluevale’s Jacquie Bishop, chair

of the IPM committee, says therewill be a number of important stepsbeing taken this fall, including thepublishing of the IPM’s cookbook,which is historically an importantand popular part of any IPM.

Bishop says the committeereceived over 800 recipe

submissions for the book, whichwas overwhelming at the time. Itwas nice to have a lot to choosefrom, she said, as sales of the booktypically top 10,000 copies forevery year’s IPM.

Publication of the book, Bishop


Pace quickens as Huron’s2017 IPM edges closer

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The second IPM developmenttaking shape this autumn is abudding partnership with the HuronCounty Art Show, which willhopefully yield the event’s poster ina very organic way.

The Art Show, and in turn theHuron County Art Bank, calls forart submissions from HuronCounty residents year after year,fostering a spirit of artisticexpression throughout thecommunity.

As a special addition to thisyear’s show, the county is askingfor submissions for potential posterart for the 2017 IPM.

Submissions for the Art Show’sspecial project are due Sept. 25 andwill be on display at the HuronCounty Museum between Oct. 18and Dec. 20. The winner will berevealed on Sept. 24, 2016 – chosenthrough a process involvingcommunity votes and input fromthe IPM committee.

Bishop says she’s thrilled aboutthe partnership between the twogreat Huron County initiatives.With so many great artiststhroughout Huron County, she says,she’s excited to see what isproduced in the name of the IPM.

One of the IPM’s most excitingdevelopments, Bishop says, andone that will be happening at anIPM for the first time in history, isthe partnership that has been struckbetween the IPM and the BrusselsAgricultural Society to host theSociety’s authentic 2017 BrusselsFall Fair at the IPM.

After a vote earlier this year thatwas overwhelmingly in favour ofthe partnership, a committee of theSociety has been struck that willfocus on the 2017 partnership.However, few decisions have beenmade in the committee’s early days.One thing is for certain, Bishopsays, is that the Fair has beenpromised a spot on the IPM andRural Expo’s main street, which ismost definitely prime real estate.

Bishop says it’s important to notethat the IPM is also the province’sforemost rural expo, which isexactly where an authentic fall fairfits in the picture.

“To have things for the rural kidsand the 4-H groups – I think it’sgreat to have them involved,”Bishop says.

Also coming this fall, the IPM’sbeautification committee will bereleasing the categories for theevent, letting everyone know justhow they can be recognized for“spiffing up” their homes, asBishop puts it.

The beautification committee hasalso been hard at work discussingthe creation of a custom-bred lilyfor the IPM made by Mike Falconer

of Falhaven Farms, just south ofGoderich.

The concept was first presentedto the committee through memberMonique Baan, who knew Falconerand his work through their sharedinvolvement with the Discover theGardens of Huron Perth tour.

Baan, and fellow committeemembers Lynne Godkin and AliciaDeitner, then visited FalhavenFarms in late July and chose a lilyto be bred in time for the match.

When it comes to practical needs,the IPM is still looking forvolunteers in a number of differentcapacities. A list of volunteerdepartments and positions will soonbe available on the event’s website,at www.plowingmatch.org


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The International Plowing Matchin Walton will have a custom-bredlily to call its own in 2017 thanks tothe match’s beautificationcommittee and Mike Falconer ofFalhaven Farms.

The process began severalmonths ago, says Lynne Godkinfrom the IPM. It was MoniqueBaan, another member of the

beautification committee, who firstmentioned the concept after shemet Falconer as a fellow gardeneralong the Discover the Gardens ofHuron Perth tour.

After getting approval from theIPM committee, Godkin, Baan andAlicia Deitner, another committeemember, went to Falhaven Farms,just south of Goderich, in mid-July,and began the search for the perfectlily to represent the IPM in twoyears.

As an avid gardener, Godkin saidshe “jumped all over” the idea, butsome of the men on the committeewere a little tougher to convince,she said.

Her instincts were onlyconfirmed, however, when she,Baan and Deitner made the trip toFalhaven.

“Wow,” Godkin said, when askedwhat her first impressions were.

She said that despite being a


Huron’s 2017 IPM to have its own special lily

Members of the Beautification Committee of the 2017 International Plowing Match organizing committeerecently visited Falhaven Farms to choose a lily for the match. Seen during the visit are (left to right)Monique Baan, Alicia Deitner and Lynne Godkin.

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dedicated gardener, she had noidea about the science behindbreeding lilies and how complexthe process can be.

Falhaven Farms, Godkin said, isdefinitely one of Huron County’sbest-kept secrets and the skill andsmarts of Falconer is understated tobe sure.

“We were blown away by thesheer number of flowers atFalhaven,” Godkin said.

To the three women, Falconerdescribed his interest in day lilies asa “hobby gone wild” in the yearsfollowing his time as a funeraldirector and as a farmer, which hecurrently still maintains.

It was during the group’s visit,however, that they learned just howlong it takes to design a lily fromthe ground up. It’s that timeline,Godkin said, that led them tochoose an “older” lily from

Falconer’s collection, to ensure itwould be ready in time for theMatch in 2017.

The lily chosen for Walton’s 2017IPM began its life in 2007, Falconersaid. It first bloomed at his farm in2009.

The lengthy process of breedinglilies, Falconer says, begins, ofcourse, with the seeds.

Falconer first pollinates the liliesand then collects the seeds, whichwill then remain in a refrigeratorover the course of the winter. The following spring, the lilies will be ready to be planted. Thatfirst year, however, can be, at times,a bit of a crap shoot, Falconer said.

“Day lilies don’t really stabilizeuntil their second year,” he said.

What stabilization means, is that the design of the flower doesn’tnecessarily settle until the secondyear it’s planted and then grows.

While in that first year, mostflowers tend to be stabilized, it’snot guaranteed, and changes couldvery likely happen from the firstyear to the second.

If he were to begin the process of

breeding a new lily today, he said,it wouldn’t likely stabilize until2018, which would be too late forthe IPM.

It was with that lenghty processand science in mind that members

of the IPM beautificationcommittee chose a flower thatbegan its life cycle several yearsago.

While Falconer encouraged the


Huron lily breeder to provide bloom for IPM

Mike Falconer of Falhaven Farms near Goderich has been breedinglilies for 15 years. One of his lilies will represent the 2017 IPM.



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group to make a handful of visits tothe farm, as the bloom on hisflowers can change on a day-to-daybasis, the group fell in love on theirfirst visit, and made their decision.

Falconer says that breeding daylilies takes a “bit of science and abit of luck”, a process to which hehas been wholly committed for 15years now.

Since he was a kid, Falconer saidhe has been interested in the worldof gardening.

He says his interest in day liliesbegan when he was over at afriend’s house and saw them for thefirst time. He was immediatelyintrigued by them and soon set outon a path where they wouldconsume much of his day-to-daylife, something he says he’s finewith, because he thoroughly enjoysit.

While the flower has now beenchosen, a number of steps stillremain.

Falconer says the flower willhave to be named by next summer,as there is a registration processinvolved.

In addition, Godkin and JacquieBishop, chair of the IPM, say thatexactly how the flower is going tobe incorporated into the event hasyet to be determined.


Breeding lilies takes a bit of science and luck

The lily for the 2015International Plowing Match firstbloomed in 2009 at FalhavenFarms.


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The Huron County Art Bank andthe 2017 International PlowingMatch (IPM) in Walton have joinedforces in a union that willeventually yield the event’s posterartwork.

The Huron County Art Show,which has been a staple of thecommunity’s art scene for years,has this year added a new categoryaimed at the 2017 event, which isanticipated to be one of the biggestin recent memory for HuronCounty.

Members of the IPM committeewill be involved in the judgingprocess, says IPM Chair JacquieBishop, but there will also be acommunity-vote component.

Submissions for the Art Show,including the IPM postercomponent, are already beingaccepted at the Huron CountyMuseum in Goderich. The deadlineis 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25,2015.

The theme for this year’s show is“Our Creative Countryside” and allentries must include a shortstatement or explanation in regardsto the theme of the artwork.

For IPM poster submissions, apurchase award of $500 will bepresented to the winner and aprofile of the artist will appear onthe 2017 IPM website.

The winner will be revealed onSept. 24, 2016 at the IPM and RuralExpo in Wellington County.

Bishop says she’s thrilled aboutthe partnership between the twogreat Huron County initiatives.With so many great artists in HuronCounty, she says, she’s excited tosee what is produced in the name ofthe IPM.

Submissions for the Art Showwill be on display at the HuronCounty Museum from Oct. 18 toDec. 20.

For more information on theHuron County Art Show or the ArtBank, visit the website atwww.huroncounty.ca/museum


Huron’sartists tohelp designIPM poster

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