5June 2009 CUMBRIA FARMER
Passion for ploughing
BY ANNA BURDETT
FarmingLife
NATIONAL
round-up
Colin Hewetson: Enjoying the renaissance in competitive ploughing
KEVIN MURPHY
A
Westnewton farmer will
represent Cumbria later
this year in a sport that
has become an addiction
for him.
A passion for ploughing matches
took a fierce hold of Colin Hewetson
a decade ago.
Far from being a relaxing day out,
the matches are often a stressful
experience for the 50-year-old, who is
widely regarded as one of the best
ploughmen in the region.
His wife Sandra is one of the few
partners who brave the cool autumn
days of the match season. Sitting for
hour on end in a foldaway chair on
the edge of the competition area, she
says she's there to keep him calm
when things get too much out in the
field.
Colin said: "I used to get nervous
and Sandra used to say take a deep
breath. I do get
stressed, there was
one match when I
was ready for pack-
ing in; it was a bad
field but I went on
to win.
"If I miss a
match, I'm like a
bear with a sore
head. Winning is
the addictive part. I
didn't realise I was
this competitive
before I started
ploughing."
After a successful
2008 season, Colin
will compete at the
British National
Ploughing Champi-
onships in October
along with fellow
Cumbrians Trevor
Johnstone, Graham
Hunt, Ian Thomp-
son and Matthew
Whitehead.
"There's a lot of good ploughmen
around Cumbria," added Colin.
Ploughing matches are not a speed
test and competitors have more than
three hours to make sure their fur-
rows are straight and true.
Judges demand neatness and per-
fection and a strict adherence to a
lengthy list of Society of Ploughmen
rules. Furrows must be firm and
well-packed with no holes. They
should be uniform, level and
straight.
Farmers work on their own most
of the time and rarely get the chance
to pit their skills in competition with
their peers. This might be one of the
reasons why competitive ploughing
is enjoying a renaissance.
Ploughing, however, is not just
confined to working or retired farm-
ers; there are butchers, joiners and
even accountants buying up old trac-
tors and ploughs to enter the fray.
To these men in their ploughing
machines, a match is about more
than just turning over stubble; it's
about being the best in front of a
crowd who can appreciate perfect
straight lines in the rich brown
soil, with not a bump or weed in
sight.
There's no shortage of local
matches to chose from as there has
been a proliferation in recent years.
Colin said: "I can't give any
secrets away to other ploughmen.
Ploughing is very
competitive and
secretive.
"Anyone doing
well always has a
crowd around watch-
ing them to see what
tricks they're using.
"There are more
competitors and a lot
of these matches
have doubled in size.
It's become hard to
find suitable land for
a ploughing match.
"The competition
is a lot stronger
nowadays and every-
one is chasing the
men at the top."
It's not unusual for
Colin to get up at
4am to do chores at
Lords Close, near
Westnewton. He has
beef and sheep on 200
acres.
His tractors of
choice are two classic David Browns.
One, a 780, was bought new by his
dad in 1969, the other is a 25d which
he has lovingly restored.
He competes in the vintage
hydraulic class with the old-style
plough still used on the land at
Lord's Close.
"I'm always trying something dif-
ferent, some modification. Some-
times it works and sometimes... it's
back to the drawing board.
"The key to ploughing is confi-
dence and belief in yourself. If you
think you're not going to do a very
good job, you won't."
Colin represents Cumbria
in a national competition
`If I miss a
match, I'm like a
bear with a sore
head. Winning is
the addictive
part. I didn't
realise I was this
competitive
before I started
ploughing'
Safety net
SUPPORT payments will continue
to provide an income safety net
for farmers after CAP reform in
2013.
EU Agriculture Commissioner
Mariann Fischer Boel told
agricultural ministers in the
Czech Republic that she could
not yet say if the scheme would
be totally decoupled or targeted
at active farmers, but she said
maintenance of payment based
on historical links was out of the
question.
Formal talks on CAP's future
begin next summer.
Hill costs to rise
ENGLISH hill farmers will be
worse off by �1,000 a year under
new government regulations,
the Conservatives claim.
A typical hill farm with 600
sheep would have to fork out
�247 in disease cost-sharing and
electronic identification (EID) is
likely to cost �762, according to
shadow farm minister Jim Paice.
Cheaper inputs
ARABLE farmers' costs could be
lower than expected this year.
Britain's biggest fertiliser
manufacturer GrowHow UK has
announced a lower new season
price for its Nitram product.

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