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MJ: I purposely stayed out of this discussion thinking maybe some of the guys involved or once involved with the Internation Plowing Match here in Ontario, may jump in. That didn't happen, thus I will give you a brief outline, not so much on the actual plowing, but rather the structure of the organization. This match is held yearly, and each year a different county hosts the plowing match. This match has several classes from modern day equipment all the way back to antique. I'm not involved, never felt I had the time to make the commitment these guys put into match plowing. I have several neighbors who compete in the antique classes. One of whom seems to place in the top 5 every year. When I moved here I thought I may get involved, however I soon discovered I was not prepared to make the commitment in time. Here in Ontario they have very strong county organizations. In this county soon as the winter wheat is off these guys are out every Sat. plowing somewhere. Every weekend someone different hosts these plow days where guys go to hone their skills. I've gone to a couple of these, and they spend the day plowing, helping novice plowers, etc. and usually end the day with a barbeque or or lunch and a jamb session, aimed at helping everyone involved, do better plowing. Most counties have annual plowing matches in Sept. I don't know the exact ruling on this but expect you must place at a county plowing match to compete at the IPM in very late Sept. or Oct. I doubt if there is any point of one going to the IPM unless he did place at county level. I've been to one International Plowing Match, these are a 3-4 day event and usually have an attendance of over 100,000 spectators. The guys involved take this very seriously, basically I'd say anyone who makes it to the IPM, makes a commitment of every weekend from mid July until Oct. I'm not completely sure on this but think they allow international competitors to compete. I think there have been US as well as European competitors in the past. I think if you wanted to come and compete, they will round you up a tractor and plow to your liking. Most serious competitors have several tractor plow combinations and are always looking for an operator. I know I have a cousin in another county, he hasn't owned a tractor or a plow in 40 years, yet he competes every year at the county level. I think he may even have gone to IPM a couple of times in the past.
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