Every Ploughing Championships is different. Every family situation is complex. It is difficult to park whatever is happening at home or in your head for the day. Still, a day off from home pressure helps.

I was staying up for the three days to meet the visitors to the Irish Farmers Journal stand. It is a great barometer of what is going on in the various sectors. A wet forecast for Wednesday had Tim cautioning against travelling in the car.

“You won’t get it out of the field” he warned. “It’s best that you take the jeep to the field!” The meeting place would be Tipperary at dad’s. We’d travel on to Screggan from there. It was going to be Julie’s first time to visit the Ploughing. I worried about how she would negotiate the crowds on her scooter. She was working in the Health and Wellness arcade on the Inclusion Ireland stand.

CARDBOARD RAMP

On Monday evening, Tim hurt his back. Experience has taught him to stop and rest when that happens, meaning he couldn’t travel. So Philip, Julie and I set out for Tipperary.

The homestead was ready for us and we settled down for a few hours. We were on the road at 6am the following morning. Philip described the Ploughing Championships to Julie as “the Young Scientist Exhibition multiplied 10 million times!”

All went well and we were in the field before 8am. Julie could travel easily and independently until she came to the actual arcade. A strip of bark mulch between the ramp and the track stalled her scooter. We had to push her in and out. Now, that defeated the purpose of independence completely. Something was needed to bridge the gap. Philip, always inventive, found a few cardboard boxes. He flattened them out and put them in place. It meant that Julie could access the arcade without our help.

Julie’s day went well. On Wednesday I was glad that she was safe at home. She would have had no hope of getting around and a cardboard ramp would have been useless. Access is always an issue for us. We have to check before we go anywhere that there are toilets on the ground floor and so on.

It is time that all event organisers thought about people with mobility issues and planned to enable their independence.

TRAGIC NEWS

Tuesday evening, we had the FBD Insurance IFJ Farmyard Awards. There is a huge emphasis on farm safety in this competition. So it was with the deepest sympathy that we began with a minute’s silence to remember Martin Keogh jnr who died in a farm accident that evening.

Justin McCarthy paid tribute to the great ploughman and sympathised with the wider ploughing family. We were subdued as a result of the tragic news. Life will go on for all of us but life for the Keoghs will be utterly changed forever.

It is incumbent on all of us to redouble our efforts and identify the pitfalls on our own farms. Ask your Teagasc adviser to assist you.

The weather was so bad on Wednesday that stands became upmarket, some even sporting their own swimming pools out front.

Teenagers became toddlers splashing about in the muck. Some were clad in muddy messes that were once runners! The crowd moved in unison below a sea of multi-coloured umbrellas. Still, the show went on.

I left the jeep in the field overnight. Tim had me spooked!

“Did you leave my jeep all alone? Are you sure you have the keys?” On Thursday morning, just to be sure, I had to go out to the field to check on it. That particular field was not being filled that day. We talk about the carbon footprint we leave on the planet. Well, there’s another one; the litter footprint. To be fair, the field was largely clean except for the odd nappy. How disgusting!

But one rectangle stood out in Car Park 23 on the high part of the field. You will recognise yourselves by the big pink plastic sheet in a crumpled mess, the brown and black discarded runners, the white plastic cups and lots of papers. Luckily, these dirty people are in the minority but you need to know that the rest of us abhor your actions.

CONVERSATIONS

I was particularly aware of the worries of our visitors to the stand. So many people were worrying about family members in hospital or about to have procedures.

Little baby grandchildren had just had surgery; a five-year-old was recovering from a major operation and another three-year-old had big surgery postponed.

Farming couples were genuinely worried about how to plan for the next generation.

“We want to do the succession plan right. We don’t want them all fighting after we’re gone,” said one lovely lady. Everybody carries internal baggage at the Ploughing while keeping the bright side out.

Some Ploughing enthusiasts are burdened with heavy loads. Sometimes they meet someone who will allow them to unburden by sharing their story. If all you did was listen and empathise, then it was worthwhile. We get support in all sorts of ways and oftentimes going out among the people is just the trick to help you to cope.

Ploughing 2017 will be remembered because of the cloud of tragedy that descended on Tuesday evening. There was heartfelt sympathy for the Keogh family and the organisers.

Yet, the show went on and measures were put in place to ensure that Thursday’s programme went ahead successfully. Water was pumped out of stands and more mulch and steel were laid down. The result was another great Ploughing. Congratulations to Anna May McHugh and her team. CL