Irish National Ploughing Championships

National Ploughing Championships
View of the National Ploughing Championships held in Tullamore, County Offaly, 2007
Status	Active
Genre	Agriculture
Venue	Varies
Location(s)	Tullamore, Offaly (current)
Country	Ireland
Inaugurated	1931
Attendance	283,000 (2016)
Organized by	National Ploughing Association
Website
npa.ie

The National Ploughing Championships (Irish: Comórtas Náisiúnta Treabhdóireachta)(previously known as The National Ploughing Championships Machinery & Livestock Exhibition) or (NPC) is an agricultural show in Ireland. The event is one of the largest outdoor events in the world with over 1500 exhibitors and attendances of over 200,000. It takes place each year in September.

The first inter-county ploughing contest was held between County Wexford and County Kildare on 16 February 1931 in a 26-acre field at Coursetown in Athy. Since then, the National Ploughing Championships has expanded to over 800 acres with 1,400 exhibitors. It has been extended beyond ploughing, farming or machinery enthusiasts, to now featuring attractions such as a tented trade village, live entertainment, music & dancing, fashion shows, craft village, live cooking demonstrations, celebrity appearances, sheep dog trials, pony games & welly throwing.

In 2014 the event attracted a record 279,500 visitors, 281,000 in 2015 and 283,000 in 2016.

The original Mission Statement for the National Ploughing Association, NPC's governing body, was set out their big idea in 1931: "To bring the message of good ploughing to all parts of the country and to provide a pleasant and friendly place to meet and do business". In September 2013, the Farming Magazine, Grassroots, in exploring the progress of NPA in an article entitled 'NPA Recalls'(p53) asked the question "Did NPA live up to its Mission Statement?" and concluded "There is no doubt that it has, tenfold".

"The story of the National Ploughing Association (NPA) that has since unfolded was described by Examiner newspaper in asking what was the secret to our national ploughing and national hurling success in Ireland: they noted that both national events have a common requirement for participants and spectators — buckets of stamina and a focused approach; that thousands of people had again flocked to the final day of the rural pageant in 2015 and many of them paid homage to the enduring triumphs of the Kilkenny hurlers and the National Ploughing Association, headed by Anna May McHugh.". They are both an integral part of the story of Rural Ireland’s development.

Following in the footsteps of the GAA and going on to become another Irish Community phenomenon, the National Ploughing Association (NPA) as it’s now known was born of the humble seeds sown in that 1931 challenge between its co-founders Kildare man JJ Bergin and Wexford man Denis Allen. It has continued to grow through the endeavours, foresight and the development work of its three extraordinary Managing Directors and their director teams throughout its 84 year lifetime to become the powerful International showcase of Irish Farming it is today.