From early morning, the more familiar Irish weather threatened to dampen the extended warm spell Ireland is currently having. However, it held off well with just a brief light shower that was warmly welcomed by many of the ploughmen taking to the plots. It was felt that given the extended summer, the ground was a little hard-going, particularly for the Horse classes.

With traffic flowing well throughout the day, large numbers once again descended on the site in Ratheniska. This year witnessed 82,000 through the turnstiles on day 1. This marks an increase of approximately 1000 on the same day last year. Commenting on attendance, Ms Anna May McHugh stated “We are extremely pleased with the turn out today. Ratheniska is very centrally located with an excellent road network and good access to public transport. As a result, people attending can get to and from the site relatively easily and this makes a substantial difference. With good weather forecast for tomorrow along with an action packed day of trading and ploughing, we are expecting similar crowds once more”.

The event was officially opened today by President Michael D. Higgins. However, prior to attending his official duties, the President took to walking the Under 40 Horse and European Vintage Ploughing fields and speaking with several of the competitors. This was followed by an afternoon touring the sights and viewing the exhibits that is the National Ploughing Championships.

Tomorrow’s action packed day includes Fashion Shows, Brown Bread Baking, Welly Throwing competitions, Competitive Ploughing, Pole Climbing, Celebrity Cooking, Sport Stars, Music Stars and much much more. With all that is happening on site tomorrow and the expected continuance of good weather, large numbers are expected to descend on the Championships again for Day 2.

Download the Ploughing App.

The Farmer’s Journal has launched a National Ploughing Championship site app for you to download for free!

To do so , follow one of these links:

• Google Play – http://bit.ly/Ploughing2014android
• Apple Itunes – http://bit.ly/Ploughing2014apple

With just under two weeks to go to the staging of one of Europe’s largest outdoor events, preparations at the site in Ratheniska are well under way for the National Ploughing Championships. Today, the national media were treated to an exciting preview of what to expect, as the event was officially launched on the Co. Laois site.

Launching the event, NPA Managing Director Anna May McHugh said “The Championships not only provides a national stage for showcasing all things agricultural, but also brings together people from all sectors of Irish society both rural and urban, to enjoy three days immersed in country living”.

“Many visitors to the event take the three days out in late September to have a well-earned break from their daily working lives, particularly following one of the busiest times in the farming calendar, the harvest”.

“Returning annually, the event has been responsible for the forging of many lifelong friendships.”

Food, fashion and farming were the flare of the day as ploughing enthusiasts, public representatives and photographic journalists got a flavour of all that “Ploughing” has to offer.

For Machinery addicts, the NPC trade arena goes unrivalled. All the top brands will be showcasing the latest makes and models on the market. Today several guests along with some of Ireland’s top models from the Holman Lee modelling agency took the opportunity to inspect and test drive some of tractors/machinery on site.

There was a great welcome for World Ploughing Conventional Champion, Carlow man Eamonn Tracey and his republic of Ireland team mate John Whelan who successfully secured bronze at the recent World Ploughing Contest in France. The NPA were also delighted to confirm that now both World Ploughing Champions will be attending the 2014 Ploughing Championships as the Reversible winner, Andrew Mitchell from Scotland will be judging at this year’s event.

Up to 200,000 visitors are expected to descend on the 800 acre site with over 1,400 stands.

This makes the National Ploughing Championships the largest outdoor event in Europe and one of the largest agricultural events in the world.