If Brexit is the catch-all term for all that is negative in farming, the Ploughing is the break from that negativity that most in farming need. It’s the opportunity to tyre-kick, back-slap and sandwich-eat at your leisure among your peers.

It did rain a lot on Wednesday though.

Dairy farmers are enjoying bumper milk prices, they’re up 42% on the price in August last year, but there is little positivity elsewhere.

Tillage farmers are in the second year of a salvage operation, given the challenging weather conditions.

A dry few days at the start of this week helped, but there are still thousands of acres to be harvested and thousands more acres to be baled for straw.

Grain prices have been under pressure for five years now.

Certainly on days one and two, beef and suckler farmers were conspicuous by their absence. Granted, the heavy rains of Wednesday kept many away.

Those on the heavier ground already have cattle housed a month or more, with little or no chance of those animals seeing grass again this year.

Brexit’s bigger, South American cousin, Mercosur, was on the minds of many beef farmers though.

Even Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed told the crowd at the Irish Farmers Journal breakfast briefing on Wednesday that he is most worried about a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur which could result in cheaper beef flooding our shores.

It really did rain on Wednesday. A lot.

The €45m worth of machinery on display (aimed at dairy farmers and tillage TAMS people) was the undoubted draw for children and adults alike. In truth, the Ploughing is all about the fancy machines and gadgets that everyone wants but can barely afford.

While machinery dealers were trying to tempt dairy farmers with slurry tankers and the like, the tillage farmers were more cautious.

Like a married man in Coppers, it’s alright to have a drink but anything more and you might be in trouble.

With another record attendance on Tuesday, coupled with exhibitors and politicians coming out of your ears, there was a sense that we have reached peak Ploughing. Can it get any bigger?

Still, it is what it is, a day out from the farm and a break from reality.

Did I mention that it rained a lot on Wednesday?