The farmerette class in the National Ploughing Championships may be small in numbers, but the women competing in it bring years of experience and strong family traditions.
For Joanne Deery from Co Monaghan and Martina Flynn from Co Kerry, ploughing has been a part of their lives from an early age, with both following in the footsteps of previous generations.
“Ploughing has always been in our family. My father and grandfather ploughed and my brother ploughs now,” Joanne said.
“We were going to matches since we were fit to walk.
“Daddy was always involved, and there would have been someone left at home to look after the farm during the ploughing.”
She always remembers a very different side to ploughing matches growing up, when women’s committees played an important role behind the scenes.
“My mother and grandmother would have done all the cooking and feeding on the field.
“There would have been gas cookers on the back of trailers.”
Joanne began competing in 1996 and this year marks her 30th year taking part in ploughing matches as a competitor.
She has won the farmerette class six times and has also regularly finished among the top four or five of competitors.
“There’s not many farmerettes. In some counties you’d be lucky to have two or three,” she said.
She believes access to machinery can be some of the biggest barriers for women who might otherwise give competitive ploughing a go.
“Sometimes you have girls within ploughing families, but they don’t have the facilities there at home.
“I was lucky there was always a tractor and plough at out house, and always a way and means to get an outfit.”
Traditions
The tradition is continuing within the Deery family this year, with Joanne, her brother, and her nephew all competing.
She will also have a busy few days at the Ploughing, judging two of the days before competing herself.
With 2026 marking the International Year of the Woman Farmer, Joanne said much of the contribution made by women on farms can still go unseen.
“There are a lot of females out there quietly in agriculture. A lot of women keep farms going in ways that people don’t see.
“Just because women aren’t out milking cows and moving fences doesn’t mean that they aren’t involved.”
Kerry woman Martina Flynn also grew up surrounded by ploughing, with both her father and an uncle on her mother’s side involved.
Martina began ploughing in the championships in 1994, initially every second year, before she became an annual competitor from 1998 onwards.
One National Ploughing Championship provided her with a piece of machinery that remains central in her competitions today.
“There was a raffle and all the competitors names were entered. I won a plough and that’s the plough I use to compete,” she said.
Her memories go back even further than competing.
When the championships were held in Ardfert in Kerry, Martina was only seven or eight years old.
“I remember sitting in the back of the Land Cruiser helping to put out stakes and getting the field ready.”
Following the death of her father in 2024, Martina’s uncle has taken over coaching her.
“There’s so much to learn and you never stop learning.
“Different soil types, ground conditions and problems that you wouldn’t have came across before.”
Martina believes the International Year of the Woman Farmer is an opportunity to further highlight a contribution that has not always received recognition.
“Particularly in farming families, women play as big a role as men but it’s not as recognised,” she said.
“It’s great to see that over the last 10 years or so it has come such a long way.
“Women’s voices are being heard more often and it’s a positive impact.”
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