It was back to basics, to the essence of what the National Ploughing Championships (The Ploughing) is all about, as the 2021 instalment kicked off today in Ratheniska, Co. Laois (Wednesday, September 15).

The trade show was missing - the bells, the whistles, and the frills. It was a small affair - closed to the general public - but it did not take away from the enjoyment of the few who were lucky enough to be in attendance. It was just ploughing but it was more than that.

Agriland caught up with assistant managing director of the National Ploughing Association (NPA), Anna Marie McHugh, on day one of this three-day event, which marks 90 years of the association.

"Who would have thought a few years ago, that we would be celebrating the 90th anniversary with just ploughing! I suppose it really does tell us that there are greater powers out there," she said.

Unfortunately this year, the World Ploughing Contest, also due to take place in Ireland, to mark the 90th milestone, had to be cancelled. This and last year have taken their toll on many, and in many ways.

"The uncertainty has been the biggest thing for us. It has been stop-start all the time for the last few years. We thought in 2020 that we would have an event, we thought this year that we would have an event.

"And, obviously, it is a huge thing for companies who would do most of their trade for the year at The Ploughing. We are very, very conscious of that, and we are trying to engage with them as much as we can this week, trying to promote the company names and businesses, just so people will know that they are still there."

In achieving that aim, the NPA has built a programme of activities around the ploughing competitions that will keep the focus on ‘rural Ireland’ during Ploughing Week, which takes place from today until Friday.

This will include virtual content promoting exhibitors, combined with a week of interactive digital activations.

It recently emerged that the NPA had incurred losses in the region of €650,000 in the 12 months to the end of January 2021, on top of almost €420,000 the previous year.

Its own reserves will be a positive to this negative.

"But we are 100% self financing. We have a couple of support companies that have sponsored certain elements of the event but we don't receive any government funding, and we made that fairly evident this year because we weren't able to apply for any grant aid.

"We are very conscious, going forward, of working with the exhibitors at the level they are at next year.

"Some companies are barely still in business, so we will work with them next year and if they need to take half the stand, or a quarter of the stand that they took before, we will work with them.

"We just want them to be present at The Ploughing in whatever capacity they can be."

But what, if anything, is the NPA doing to futureproof The Ploughing against the kind of disruption brought on by a pandemic, should such an event occur again?

"I have to say though, one thing that we are very proud of is that we were prepared to stand up and make a decision early - both years - for the good of the general public and the country as a whole.

"We hadn't huge support when we cancelled the event back in May, but it was the right decision to make because we couldn't take the risk - for this local community, our ploughing community, our exhibitor community and the general public.

"We have dealt with a lot over the last few years - storm, rain and the pandemic - and we'll be the stronger for it."

But what will a 'stronger' ploughing championships look like in the future? In 2019, it attracted close to 300,000 attendees - will we see those days again? Or will we be looking at a smaller affair?

"People do have health concerns but the one beauty of The Ploughing is that we can facilitate the big numbers, and we can facilitate the small ones too.

But, the assistant managing director is clear about the need for clear communication regarding large-scale events in 2022.

"Our exhibition packs will start to be distributed from early new year and, if distributors have certain conditions on going to events and trade fairs, well they will have to be catered for.

Day one may now be done and dusted, but the cream of the crop will continue to rise to the top over the coming days, according to Anna Marie.

"And hopefully we will see a few more names coming up as champions at the end of each evening.

"For some people, this is the first time they have ever competed at a national ploughing championships so this will be a massive memory for them. For others, it may be their first and maybe only time winning a national, so it will be memorable for them forever. So, a special week, definitely."

So special, in fact, that it attracted some sporting superstars in 'A League of their Own' - former footballers Jamie Redknapp and Patrice Evra; and former cricketer Freddy Flintoff!