Dan Donnelly is gearing up for the 2025 National Ploughing Championships. This is not Dan’s first rodeo, as he has competed in every National Ploughing Championships since 1988. He is competing in the senior reversible competition this year.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Dan says he is happy enough with how the preparations are going so far.
“We’ll leave practising to probably the week before. You don’t know what the weather is going to do. You could start practising now and could get a wet week in two weeks time and all the practice would be a waste of time. Ground is a little bit difficult, and if it’s going to change before the competition there’s no point trying to adapt to the hard conditions.”
Dan is not the only one of the Donnellys competing in Screggan this year. His father, Billy, is competing in the senior three furrow conventional competition. Dan’s son, DJ, is competing in the senior U21 conventional competition also.
Dan’s father says he “unfortunately” fell in love with ploughing.
“I say unfortunately because it takes up your life. It takes up a lot of our lives because we’re so determined to win. You get out of ploughing what you put into it.”
“When I was five or six, I used to travel all over Leinster with my father on the mudguard of a 188.”
Dan’s son DJ has a similar story about how he got involved in ploughing, saying he sat up in the cab of the tractor beside him watching him in action.
Dan Donnelly and his son DJ and Dad Billy of Kilmuckridge Ploughing . Photograph: Patrick Browne
Accolades
Dan has a number of accolades to his name already. He has won two five-nations titles, in 2012 and in 2016.
He also has three European titles. His first win was in 2019, and again in 2022 and, most recently, in 2025 at the championships in Retford, UK. He has also been runner up in the European championships on four occasions.
A bit closer to home, Dan has won five national titles at the National Ploughing Championships in previous years, the most recent being in 2021.
Dan says wherever ploughing is, they’ll follow to compete and he has travelled from New Ross to Moscow.
“If you want to win you have to do it well. We give it our all.”
The competitors don’t get much time to browse the stalls or peruse the other attractions at the Ploughing. They spend most of their day in the field.
Competing is not just a one-day affair. The senior competitors compete over two days. On day one, competitors need to get into the top 10 ranking to qualify for a test match.
The test match consists of ploughing grass rather
than tillage stubble to get a place in either the world, European or five-nations competition. As well as competing for a qualifying place, there are national titles up for grabs.
Photograph: Patrick Browne
“We have six matches in Wexford every year to qualify for the nationals, with five or six competitors in both the conventional and reversible classes. Any of those competitors could go on to win a world title.” John Deere is the tractor of choice for the Donnellys, with all three of them using John Deere tractors and Kverneland ploughs. Dan uses a John Deere 2650 and a two-furrow Kverneland reversible plough. They also use another 2650 and a 1950 model.
Dan’s tractor gets plenty of use through the year, especially for silage season.
When Dan isn’t busy ploughing, he’s still driving tractors. He does a bit of work as an agricultural contractor, and engineering also.
Dan Donnelly is gearing up for the 2025 National Ploughing Championships. This is not Dan’s first rodeo, as he has competed in every National Ploughing Championships since 1988. He is competing in the senior reversible competition this year.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Dan says he is happy enough with how the preparations are going so far.
“We’ll leave practising to probably the week before. You don’t know what the weather is going to do. You could start practising now and could get a wet week in two weeks time and all the practice would be a waste of time. Ground is a little bit difficult, and if it’s going to change before the competition there’s no point trying to adapt to the hard conditions.”
Dan is not the only one of the Donnellys competing in Screggan this year. His father, Billy, is competing in the senior three furrow conventional competition. Dan’s son, DJ, is competing in the senior U21 conventional competition also.
Dan’s father says he “unfortunately” fell in love with ploughing.
“I say unfortunately because it takes up your life. It takes up a lot of our lives because we’re so determined to win. You get out of ploughing what you put into it.”
“When I was five or six, I used to travel all over Leinster with my father on the mudguard of a 188.”
Dan’s son DJ has a similar story about how he got involved in ploughing, saying he sat up in the cab of the tractor beside him watching him in action.
Dan Donnelly and his son DJ and Dad Billy of Kilmuckridge Ploughing . Photograph: Patrick Browne
Accolades
Dan has a number of accolades to his name already. He has won two five-nations titles, in 2012 and in 2016.
He also has three European titles. His first win was in 2019, and again in 2022 and, most recently, in 2025 at the championships in Retford, UK. He has also been runner up in the European championships on four occasions.
A bit closer to home, Dan has won five national titles at the National Ploughing Championships in previous years, the most recent being in 2021.
Dan says wherever ploughing is, they’ll follow to compete and he has travelled from New Ross to Moscow.
“If you want to win you have to do it well. We give it our all.”
The competitors don’t get much time to browse the stalls or peruse the other attractions at the Ploughing. They spend most of their day in the field.
Competing is not just a one-day affair. The senior competitors compete over two days. On day one, competitors need to get into the top 10 ranking to qualify for a test match.
The test match consists of ploughing grass rather
than tillage stubble to get a place in either the world, European or five-nations competition. As well as competing for a qualifying place, there are national titles up for grabs.
Photograph: Patrick Browne
“We have six matches in Wexford every year to qualify for the nationals, with five or six competitors in both the conventional and reversible classes. Any of those competitors could go on to win a world title.” John Deere is the tractor of choice for the Donnellys, with all three of them using John Deere tractors and Kverneland ploughs. Dan uses a John Deere 2650 and a two-furrow Kverneland reversible plough. They also use another 2650 and a 1950 model.
Dan’s tractor gets plenty of use through the year, especially for silage season.
When Dan isn’t busy ploughing, he’s still driving tractors. He does a bit of work as an agricultural contractor, and engineering also.
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