The sun shone, the crowds thronged through the gates for the 2022 National Ploughing Championships and, just like that, three years without farming’s flagship event washed away on Tuesday.

It was like an action replay of the 2019 National Ploughing Championships in many ways, as ice-cream vendors were flat out in the September sunshine. 2019, that is, without the backdrop and tension of the beef factory protests, which were still active and in their seventh week, while Fenagh hosted the NPA’s three-day extravaganza.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the Green Party were all present in fairly similar tents/marquees.

You could have probably fit all four in the enormous tent populated by MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan. It was an extraordinarily large presence, which emphasised the Roscommon man’s membership of the GUE/NGL Left Group in the European Parliament. If the aim of the large spend was to get people talking about him, it certainly worked.

Among the Government parties, the willingness of ministers well removed from farming to make very optimistic noises around an energy scheme for farmers in the budget was noticeable.

Months

Sources closer to Agriculture House were less confident anything could be ready for next Tuesday. Perhaps the calculation was that it will be months before the farming press are able to ask hard questions directly of any ministers other than McConalogue, Heydon and Hackett. Is it a case of say what you need in order to get out of Ratheniska intact?

Or perhaps the timing of the Ploughing, just a week ahead of the budget, will help farming to get its leg under the table. Time will tell.

All-island nature

The all-island nature of the Ploughing was demonstrated too. Michelle O’Neill, first-minister designate of the Northern Ireland assembly, was part of the strong Sinn Féin presence. More surprisingly, Edwin Poots, the former DUP leader who is still the Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, was also out and about on Tuesday, at the DAERA stand and elsewhere.

I didn’t see big queues at the DAERA stand, but I was interested at the steady business being done at the online payments section of the Department of Agriculture stand.

I understand this is due to people who have left Ulster Bank (or more properly, people who have been left by Ulster Bank) registering their new bank account number to ensure their payment lands next month.

The co-op formerly known as Glanbia had its new name brandished across its stand. If Tirlán continues to pay over 50c/l for milk, I’d say farmers won’t give a fada what their name is.

Speaking of prices, not a whisper as to grain prices, despite the harvest being over for weeks now in many parts of the country.