Precision Agriculture

I have always been fascinated by some of the weird and unusual hobbies that people have, and some of the bizarre sports that people take part in. As such, during a recently visit to Anglesey my curiosity was piqued when I was introduced to a pastime that I never knew existed, the sport of competitive precision ploughing.

This seemingly odd sport sees competitors assigned a plot of land, which they plough slowly and meticulously, carefully measuring out and planning their furrows and then carefully cutting the soil. It seems that there are a number of factors against which competitors are judged, including the uniformity, firmness, and straightness of the furrows and the overall appearance of the plot (as well as a bunch of other aspects, which I cannot even begin to understand).

The competition was mostly centred around the use of vintage tractors, however there were a couple of competitors using vintage ploughs drawn by Shire horses (probably much more difficult to control than a tractor pulled plough).

So if your ever see an inordinate number of tractors in a field slowly ploughing small patches of ground with farmers fretting over their work and painstakingly measuring each cut, you may have just happened upon a precision ploughing competition.

Pictures, Anglesey (March 2014).

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