World Ploughing Organization Visits Lake of the Woods
Ireland is a long ways from Lake of the Woods. Ireland is very different than Lake of the Woods, especially in February. When Anna Marie McHugh, the General Secretary of the World Ploughing Organization and Anna May McHugh, World Board Member took their first venture on frozen water last night, they were bit nervous to say the least. They took on the challenge of visiting the famous Igloo Bar on the ice at Zippel Bay Resort.
“Normally when we see ice on water, we tell our kids to ‘get away’,” explains McHugh, long time leader of the organization. McHugh and other board members from Alberta, Canada, Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota are in town this week for a series of meetings, site inspections and strategy sessions around the upcoming World Ploughing Competition in 2019.
“We are excited to promote ploughing in all countries whether it is a big competition or relatively small. We just had the world competition in Kenya and there weren’t many spectators, but it was still a wonderful event. On the other end of the scale, we have a competition in Ireland where ploughing is wildly popular and 300,000 spectators showed up over the course of three days,” explains McHugh.
The competition coming to Lake of the Woods will take place August 30, 31 and September 1, 2019. We don’t expect 300,000 people for the event in 2019, however, plans are being made throughout the region, working with neighboring communities to help house and welcome visitors.
Land for the competition has been chosen, some of the locations for many of the events leading up to and during the event are being flushed out and great progress is being made which will allow the United States to represent proudly for this world competition. John Gaard is the President of the USA Ploughing Organization and was also present for this week’s meetings. John is active in agriculture and resides near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “I feel good about the land chosen for the competition, the way the entire venue is shaping up. The USAPO is obviously proud to host this event for the world to see and are excited to be working with Lake of the Woods Tourism on this huge undertaking.”
Traditionally, 32 countries will compete in this event. This isn’t the plowing you see with huge tractors that use a chisel plow which the agriculture industry has gravitated to for efficiency and to prevent land erosion. The plows used in this competition are the moldboard plows. Moldboard, meaning the actually mold the soil, turning it over as the blade passes through.
Equipment for this competition is serious stuff. A competitor might have their special plow used just for competitions that has been tweaked, grinded on, welded and altered to give them the best chance of success when competitions come down to the wire.
Competitors earn points through a myriad of categories such as straightness, weed control, depth of furrow, just to name a few. This past year in Kenya, Gene Gruber from near Melrose, MN representing the US team won the world competition, the first time ever an American has won.
The 2018 competition is slated for Germany and then Lake of the Woods MN in the USA. Plans are being made and the welcome mat being set to host this most prestigious event in 2019.
Opportunities for sponsorships, volunteering on a committee or even event leadership are available. To learn more, contact Joe Henry, Executive Director of Lake of the Woods Tourism at joe.henry@LakeoftheWoodsMN.com or at 320-260-7727.
