IT STARTED OUT as a challenge between two friends but today the National Ploughing Championships is a multi-million euro business. Last year’s event in Athy generated €36 million in visitor spending and next week’s championships in New Ross are set to do the same.

The first event was held in 1931 when Denis Allen from Gorey and JJ Bergin from Athy organised a match to see which county had the best ploughmen.

“In 1931, the event cost nine pounds, three [shillings] and five pence to run,” recalls the event’s managing director Anna May McHugh. Irish Ropes in Newbridge donated a pair of ropes as a prize.

Today, it is one of the biggest events of its type in Europe and costs about €3 million to run. Standholders pay from €500 to 44,000 to have a presence at the show.

Last year, turnover from gate receipts, exhibitors fees and sponsorship accounted to the bulk of the €4.02 million revenue of the National Ploughing Association – a figure that was

5 per cent up on the previous year despite the ongoing impact of recession.

However, rising costs saw pre-tax profit fall by a quarter to €900,868, according to figures filed with Companies Office. At the end of most recent financial year, the association had accumulated profit of €9.5 million.

McHugh got involved when Bergin asked her father if he knew anyone who would help him in the office. “I went and I never left it,” she says. Her first championships were in 1956 and she has no intention of retiring any time soon.

Ploughing is clearly in the blood.

Her daughter Anna Marie is the National Ploughing Association’s press officer and is married to ploughing champion Declan Buttle.

And her son DJ, a farmer, is chairman of Laois County Ploughing Association.

McHugh faced some hostility when she took over the running of the event in the 1950s. Her maiden name was Brennan, and when she answered the phone, people would ask to speak to Mr Brennan.

“It wasn’t terribly well accepted then. It was all men folk in the agricultural scene that time and it took a while for people to get used to the idea that it was a lady behind it.”

That lady remembers when the championships were a one-day event with just 25 stands. “We saw that going up to 100 and I thought, well this is it now.”

But it continued to grow. Next week’s championships will take place on a 700 acre site with more than 1,300 exhibitors. The organisers have estimated that if a visitor wanted to spend just a minute at every stand, it would take 20 hours to get around the site.

It includes machinery exhibitions, livestock shows, forestry exhibitions, sheep dog trials, fashion shows and, of course, all sorts of ploughing.

This year the show – which runs from Tuesday to Thursday next week – will see the largest ever number of exhibitors, demonstrations and stands in the food sector.

Good Food Ireland will include cookery demonstrations from chefs such as Darina Allen and Catherine Fulvio, and will be offering food tastings from artisan food producers.

The growing emphasis on locally-produced food is highlighted by the presence of supermarket chains Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and SuperValu at this year’s event.

Five years ago, it would have been inconceivable that Tesco should have a presence at the Ploughing Championships but now the supermarket giant is there to promote the best of its Irish-sourced produce.

Last year was an exceptionally good year for farmers, with incomes up by one-third. But this has been a tough summer and a difficult harvest because of weather problems.

McHugh says most farmers have finished their work and are relatively happy at the way the weather picked up in recent weeks.

But regardless of their mood, people always make the most of the Ploughing.

“I think they let go when they come to the Ploughing. They forgot about their worries for the few days and enjoy each other’s company.

“There’s tremendous camaraderie.”

There’s a buzz in the agri-food sector too, as dairy farmers look towards the end of milk quotas in 2015 and ambitious targets are outlined in the Food Harvest 2020 plan for expansion in all farm enterprises.

And despite the ongoing economic gloom, she feels the mood at the even will be upbeat.

“We noticed that, in 2009 and 2010, we hardly had a motor car on display. A few of the companies told us they didn’t even have customers coming in, tyre kickers, but they are all back now in very big areas,” she says.

It’s a good sign for the economy.

“Two years ago people were nearly afraid to get into a new car because the economy was that bad but we have all the major car companies in now.”

Getting the perfect site for the championships every year is no easy task.

Apart from having sufficient land available in the right lay-out, the organisers have to think of things such as ESB wires and pylons crossing the site, water facilities, the local road network, proximity to housing estates and the likelihood of causing major traffic jams.

Next week’s venue at Heathpark, New Ross, was first visited in early 2010 and announced as the chosen site last September.

There was some consternation last week when Kerry Fine Gael senator Tom Sheahan posted a message on Facebook expressing his delight that Killarney was in the running to host the event in 2014.

The 2013 venue has not even been revealed yet.

He got a slap on the wrist from McHugh who said he was “a bit ahead of himself” as the organisers were nowhere near making a decision on 2014 yet.

“We would be invited by different counties to go and look at venues,” she says. “There was no way we decided on Killarney at all and really it shouldn’t have got out because there are a lot of other sites in the hat still and nothing has been concluded yet.”

Next year’s venue will be announced when the championships end next Thursday.

It hasn’t always been smooth running for Ms McHugh and her band of workers. The event was postponed for one week in 1965 because the site in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow was covered in snow. The event was held in November at that time.

In 2001, the foot and mouth disease outbreak forced its cancellation after much debate.

“We went quite close to having it . . . but three weeks before the event we thought it was better to stop it,” she recalls. It had been due to be held in Ballacolla, Co Laois so it was held there the year after.

Overseeing the event is a full-time job for McHugh who puts in 70-hour weeks in the run-up to the event. The organisers moved onto this site in early August to start building the steel roadway. Some 20 kilometres of roadway now stretch across the site and standholders are busy setting up shop.

Being in charge of such a large event must lead to some sleepless nights? “Of course you worry,” she says.

“Your first worry would be that everybody would be safe on site. It’s a construction site and we take every precaution we can.

“We have safety officers on duty, and first aid and a medical centre with a doctor and nurses on site and six ambulance units located in strategic points. The fire brigade is on site as well.”

But despite the stress, she has no plans to give it all up. “I have been blessed with good health and I love it. It’s a great challenge every year.”

She is enigmatic about her age, saying, “You’re as old as you feel and I feel very young indeed. They laugh at me here when I tell them here I could go on and on.”

Ploughing: The numbers

This year’s event will be held over 700 acres in Heathpark, New Ross, including 180 acres of competitions, 80 acres of trade arenas, and 400 acres of parking.

Last year’s championships in Athy, Co Kildare, generated more than €36 million.

It costs €3 million to stage the three-day event.

At least 180,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event, bringing 60,000 cars with them.

Some 500 stewards, judges and supervisors will help in running the event, most of them volunteers.

Almost 20km of metal walkways have been laid – an increase of 5km on last year, while 50,000km of electrical cable will power the venue.

Some 36 catering units will employ more than 1,000 people and sell 50,000 cups of tea and coffee each day.