Reversible ploughing sparks interest at championships

A SIGN of the times at this week’s National Ploughing Championships in Ballacolla, Co Laois, was the interest in reversible ploughing.

The extra focus was in line with the trend in commercial ploughing, which has seen a switch in Europe to a point where 99% of all new plough sales are of the reversible type.

Describing the more modern approach, James Walsh, a judge from Wexford, said the conventional plough is in a fixed position and turns the soil out to the right of the tractor, so you must always work in the same direction.