For years, farmers’ ploughing skills have been judged at ploughing matches, the quality of their furrows assessed by the critical eye of expert ploughmen. For the South Berkshire Agricultural Association (SBAA), ploughing matches take place annually, this year’s hosted at Englefield Estate’s Mayridge Farm.

Ploughing matches date from the 1800s when ploughs were horse drawn. The matches were established to encourage farm workers to stay on the land and earn prizes for their skill. They remain an important event in the farming calendar, providing the opportunity for enthusiasts to come together for a morning of competition followed by a lunch and prize giving ceremony.

Members of the Benyon family have been Presidents of the SBAA since its founding year in 1854 and in recent years one in three of its ploughing matches - which are always held on the second Tuesday in September - have been hosted at the Estate’s Home Farm. 

As an organisation, the SBAA supports its agricultural members and the rural economy in South Berkshire, hosting regular events, meetings and an annual dinner to celebrate the farming community and encourage innovation in agriculture.

Fergus Hodge, Secretary of the SBAA said: “The South Berks annual ploughing match attracts local farmers and rurally minded spectators who live in South Berkshire, as well as passionate ploughers and hobbyists from all over the country who tour the UK during the ploughing match season. It’s their love!”

This year at Mayridge Farm, 33 ploughers, including Englefield’s Farm Worker Mick Davis who has worked for the Estate for over 50 years, entered some of the five classes. Fergus said the older generation were more likely to be serious practitioners of the art of ploughing, learning their skills for their work before modern technology simplified the ploughing operation.”  But he said at this year’s ploughing match the youngsters did well too.

“It was great to have three under 25-year-old ploughers enter the matches this year,” he added.

The classes ranged from Vintage Mounted, where vintage tractors pull ploughs attached with a three-point linkage, meaning they can be lifted in and out of the ground, to a Vintage Trailed which is where the plough is pulled along the field and lifted out of the ground manually by a lever. The tractor is turned around before the plough is dropped back into the ground to begin a new furrow. This was the first step up from horse drawn ploughs.

Classes are traditionally judged by a neighbouring society, but this year, SBAA’s ploughing match judges included farmers and expert ploughmen who assessed entrants on the opening and finish of their plough, its uniformity, straightness, firmness and general appearance.

The matches were followed by a lunch and prize giving ceremony which is hosted by SBAA President Richard Benyon and was attended by around 120 guests. Silver cups were presented to class winners, as well as the Champion Ploughman, Joe Payne who was chosen by judges to receive the award out of all class winners.

The lunch and prize giving ceremony also provided an opportunity to announce and celebrate the winners of the summer classes which include ‘the best field of wheat’, ‘the best beef enterprise’ and ‘the best farmed farm’.

“It was a brilliant day,” said Fergus, “A big thank you to the Benyon family and the Englefield Estate for hosting us and we look forward to returning in 2027!”

Head of Rural Property and Land, James Meade said: “Whilst the Estate’s own farming operation moves to become more regenerative, history and heritage remains important to us. We are pleased to provide land for the SBAA’s annual ploughing match, meaning members of the rural community from across the UK can come together to celebrate the art of ploughing - a skill that has been vital to food production for centuries”