Northern and State Ploughing Championships show competitive side to farming

About seven farmers and their tractors took to plots of grassland, tasked with ploughing the perfect seedbed. The competition was coordinated by the Tasmanian Ploughing Association.

Long-time ploughing competitor Ralph McGee, of Perth, said farmers are judged on how good a seedbed the ploughing would yield.

"It's a sport that gets into you and you keep trying. It's a very honest sport, you make a mistake and it's there all day... it sits there and looks at you all day," he said.

"One of the main aspects is soil made available... that when you come along with a cultivator there's minimum tillage required after a mobile ploughing so that it's got soil made available for a seedbed."

Competitors from the state competitions will have a chance to compete on a national level next year, followed by international competitions in Ireland in 2021.

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