Farmers from four continents will test their cultivation skills at Olds College as part of its centennial celebrations in 2013.
The college has planned 11 events to celebrate its 100th anniversary during 2013, one for every month except January, said Kerry Moynihan, general manager of the centennial program.
On Friday and Saturday, July 19 and 20, 2013, the World Ploughing Organization will bring 30 farmers to the college farm for the 60th annual competition.
The first competition was held in Cobourg, Ont., in 1953. This will be the second time for Olds College to host the event, last held there in 1986. Its most recent competition in Canada was at Guelph, Ont., in 2003.
World Ploughing Organization secretary general Hans Spieker, of the Netherlands, toured the site with Moynihan on Monday to check the facilities and offer insight that will help organizers lay their plans for 2013.
Competitors are each pointed to a part of a 220-acre field and then asked to turn it over and prepare a seedbed. Competitors will be scored on the straightness of their furrows, their ability to keep them at an even depth and on how well they close their furrows so there are no weeds coming up through the gaps, said Spieker.
“It is part of the normal plowing practice for agricultural reasons, so you have a good seedbed for the next crop and, partly, the spectator wants to see that it is straight and nice and clean,” he said.
Unlike commercial farmers, however, plowing competitors use a two- or three-bottom plow (two or three plow shovels) rather than the enormous cultivators commonly seen on fields on the Canadian Prairies. Competitions are organized for conventional and reversible plows.
Some competitors bring their own equipment while others rent equipment once they’re here, given the costs for shipping heavy metal across oceans, said Spieker.
Of the 34 countries that belong to the World Ploughing Organization, he anticipates 30 countries from North America, Europe, Australia and Africa will take part in the 2013 event.
Spieker said he believes competitors will find a number of reasons to appreciate the Olds College venue.
Along with the 220-acre field on which they will stage their competition, the participants will be able to stay on campus with access to local shops and dining. The college has also arranged tours to nearby attractions, he said.
The World Ploughing Competition has never been cancelled due to wet weather, said Spieker. The only way weather would be a factor is if there were a severe frost, which he hopes is not likely during the second last week in July.
Olds College has not decided if there will be any charge for spectators who want to watch the event or take part in the other activities that will be associated with it, including horse-drawn plowing, said Moynihan.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com