Ploughing event - Celebrating richness of agriculture

From the air, it looks a bit like the biggest rock concert ever — 700 acres of stalls, tents, stands, enclosures, and amazing machinery that could easily pass for a U2 set-up.

But the annual National Ploughing Championships are more significant than that, providing a rural-urban bridge that unites us in a celebration of the social and economic richness of Irish agriculture.

What began in the 1930s as friendly rivalry between two farmers has since been elevated to a state occasion. President Higgins attended the opening of the championships yesterday, remarking that it evoked the rich symbolism of renewal and fruitfulness.