IT ISN’T EVERY day you come across a tractor simulator that would rival a pilot’s avian equivalent, but it isn’t every day the Ploughing Championships come to town. 

The National Ploughing Championships have returned to Ratheniska, Co Laois today in full swing for the first time since before the pandemic, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

One piece of tech on display is a mock cab that simulates the experience of driving various types of farm machinery.

It’s been a popular attraction at the Teagasc tent, where youngsters and old hats alike have hopped on for a try at maneuvering through a field – without crashing around the virtual bend.

Minister of State for Farm Safety Martin Heydon launched an investment of 1.2 million at the Championships this morning to fund 18 of the simulators, which will be used in agricultural colleges to train students in how to use the real thing.

Lauren Boland / TheJournal Lauren Boland / TheJournal / TheJournal

Speaking to The Journal, Minister Heydon said that “every farmer, predominantly the younger farmers who go through agricultural college, but any farmer who does a Teagasc course will have the opportunity to have courses on the simulators”. 

“They’re really innovative and show really difficult manoevering situations that farmers can find themselves in,” he said.

“That will definitely help to make our farmers safer because unfortunately, farm fatalities, it is the most dangerous workplace in all of Ireland. ”

A Teagasc official explained that students come to the colleges with a wide spectrum of agriculture skill levels – for some, the simulators will be their first experience of getting on this kind of machinery, while for others it’s a way to cut out “bad habits”.

People have travelled from across Ireland today to visit the Ploughing Championships, which will be officially opened by President Michael D. Higgins later today.

The President visited a horse ploughing competition this afternoon, where he was warmly greeted by participants with a handshake and by one horse with a head nudge.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, the President said it was “wonderful to be back” in Laois for the Ploughing Championships.

“From the very beginning when I became President, I always started with the horses, because this is the fundamental of the thing in a way,” he said.

He said it takes him back to “when I was very very young on my uncle’s farm in Co Clare”.

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“There’s something great about it. It’s great for people to feel the earth regularly.”

He said it is also a great opportunity for “urban people” to “visit and become acquainted with all of the different complexities of Irish rural life”.

The President touched on the importance of food security and expressed again his disappointment at world leaders being slow to help countries facing shortages, particularly in the Horn of Africa and countries like Pakistan that are facing devastating consequences of unsettled weather patterns and events like droughts or floods as the climate crisis worsens.

“This is United Nations week in New York and I think it would be absolutely tragic if we let the week pass without addressing the issue of hunger and food security,” he said.

“Year after year, the United Nations avoids dealing with the structural issues that are standing behind the food crisis.”

He said that the Horn of Africa is responsible for a tiny proportion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – “and yet, people are starving.”