Clive Carter and his family will host the Ploughing Championships for the third year in a row, on their farm in Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co Laois.

While the main site and trade stands are located on Carter’s farm, 10 landowners in total have given up parts of their farm to make the Ploughing happen over the last three years.

What is normally a tillage farm with mainly winter crops, the Carters’ land is currently in grass, in order to facilitate the trade stands for the three-day event.

Crops that are usually grown on the farm include gluten-free oats, barley, wheat, beans and rapeseed.

The months leading up to the Ploughing are all hands-on-deck, Carter told the Irish Farmers Journal on-site at Ploughing 2024.

“Basically, works start around mid-July; it was actually a little bit earlier this year.

“The trackway comes in, the electrical work goes in – so all the pipes, cables and all go down with the trackway then on top of it.

“Then the site gets marked out with the tents on.

“People only see the three days involved, but for us it’s three or four months of build and take down, trying to get lights up and electrical work in.

“It’s massively busy and it’s almost 24/7 for the few weeks leading up to it and the few weeks afterwards,”the Laois man said.

Clean-up

Clearing the site, Clive added, normally happens quite quickly with the weather being the biggest factor.

Machines and tents go out very fast, as well as litter, with removing the trackway being the biggest job.

“You’d be back to normal by about the end of October,” Carter added.