Some of the activities typically included in the broad agenda of events planned for the patron saint fairs in the villages of La Mancha (in our area) are related to agricultural competitions. These often feature a ploughing competition and a trailer manoeuvring contest, where farmers have to demonstrate their tractor handling skills. For spectators, these events are quite interesting to as the tasks are highly challenging and demand a significant level of expertise from participants.
It is also true that all these agricultural competitions are becoming less and less popular over the time. Older farmers are growing weary of participating, while younger farmers often lack the skills needed. For example, the ploughing competition particularly challenging, as we are now accustomed to using automated guidance systems. Similarly, the trailer manoeuvring competition is becoming increasingly difficult since, in our day-to-day work, we rarely need to perform complex manoeuvres. Sheds and yards are becoming more and more spacious and tractors less reliant on precision handling, these skills are no longer as relevant. Unfortunately, the decline in popularity is also linked to the decreasing number of farmers in small villages. For example, in our village it has been years since the trailer manoeuvring competition was held. Besides, this year, only four farmers participated in the ploughing competition... when years ago we remember seeing more than 20 tractors.
As you can see in our video and photos, the challenge is quite complex and requires a great deal of attention and experience to achieve a perfectly straight furrow. The winner is the one who makes the straightest furrow and ends up at the mark, an accomplishment that is often difficult to achieve. Factors like the time taken, speed or depth of ploughing are not evaluated... these aspects are left entirely to the tractor driver discretion.
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