Eoin English It could be time to kiss your ash goodbye — a new synthetic hurley is about to hit the market.

The three-day National Ploughing Championships will be officially opened in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, at noon today by President Michael D Higgins.

You mightn’t expect Home of the Year’s Hugh Wallace to be a regular at the Ploughing Championships — but he’s got a message for Irish farmers, he tells Aileen Lee.

The National Ploughing Championships is a child-friendly event. Children under 12 go free when accompanied by an adult.

It’s an Irish institution and FBD Insurance are proud to be continuing their support of the Ploughing Championships.

In the fourth Irish Examiner Farming Podcast, it’s all about the National Ploughing Championships.

The new World Ploughing Champions are returning to a heroes welcome at Dublin Airport this morning.

It's the third year in a row the event will be held there, after two record-breaking years.

Ploughing 2017: Or as it will forever be known, That Wednesday of the Ploughing That Year With All The Rain. 

One in three Irish farmers do not think that farming impacts negatively on climate change.

Just two-in-five farmers wear sun screen.

It was a day for disposable ponchos, colourful brollies, designer wellies, and hoodies galore as rain lashed the National Ploughing Championships at Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday.

As ever, the 2017 Irish Examiner/ICMSA farming survey provides an invaluable and interesting snapshot of current attitudes and opinions, writes Larry Ryan.

More than half of farmers want a Brexit minister and do not believe the Government is doing enough to prepare for the UK’s exit from the EU.

Places that the boom never reached the first time around now feel they are being forgotten all over again, writes Elaine Loughlin.

The threat posed by Brexit is driving the view that Ireland needs a specific ministry to deal with it, says the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).

An opinion poll finding that just 42% of farmers have a private pension scheme is linked to the volatility of the sector and needs to be tackled by Government, according to one of the country’s largest farming organisations.

Most farmers believe the Government should increase spending in next month’s Budget rather than cut taxes.

Farmers would still prefer to see Simon Coveney as Taoiseach, despite him losing out in the Fine Gael leadership contest.

The vast majority of farmers are opposed to a state visit to Ireland by US president Donald Trump, with an opinion poll also finding a majority of rural dwellers believing he will damage America’s global standing.

Farmers are back spending as the recovery finally starts to percolate into rural areas.

THERE has been a slight increase in the number of farmers who are unsure what will happen to their land in future.

The percentage of farmers who are very optimistic about the future of the industry continues to fall, with just one fifth of respondents expressing full confidence.

Europe’s largest pop-up town was a blaze of bright lights last night as the tillage fields of Offaly awaited today’s start of the 86th National Ploughing Championships.

Almost 70% of those living in the countryside believe the divide between urban and rural Ireland is wider than ever.

The Government has stressed that “all means under the law will be availed of to protect the security of the state” as a new poll found that fewer than half of people living in rural Ireland believe sufficient safeguards have been put in place against a possible terror attack.

Everywhere we look, in every sub-sector of Irish farming, we see that uncertainty and vagueness about what the immediate future holds — some will say that that’s the nature of any business — but farming and primary food is different, writes John Comer.

The positive effects of the economic recovery may finally be finding its way into rural areas with fewer people disagreeing that it has benefitted them and their family.

It was the day space age met planet ploughing on the tillage fields of Scraggan.

THIS morning, Ireland’s great harvest festival — the National Ploughing Championships — opens on an 800-acre site in Offaly. Described as Europe’s foremost outdoor event, last year’s record attendance of 281,000 is likely to be surpassed over the next three days.

The Gardaí have outlined seven routes to the National Ploughing Championships in Tullamore this year which they hope will alleviate any traffic problems.

More visitors than ever before attended this year's National Ploughing Championships

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Co Laois for the opening day of the National Ploughing Championships.