HCPM25: Hallahan leads Plowmen's Association into 2025 Plowing Match
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
The rhythm of Huron County is the rhythm of the seasons - this is a place where the land itself still shapes daily life for a lot of people. Harvest season is almost upon us again, which means a beloved agricultural tradition is about to happen once again: the Huron County Plowing Match (HCPM).
For Huron County Plowmen’s Association (HCPA) President Steve Hallahan, this year’s match promises to be a top-notch event; the association has scored a great host family, the Doddses, who will be putting on the big event at Dodds Century Farms north of Seaforth.
“I think that, this year, the heritage is what’s most exciting,” Hallahan explained. “The Dodds family is hosting this year, and I think Don Dodds said that 1954 was the first time he plowed in the plowing match, and they’ve all been involved ever since. You won’t find any families that have been involved as long as they have - they’re going on, say, six decades now.” Paul, Don’s son, has plowed at the World Championships twice.
Dodds Century Farm, located near Winthrop, also offers ideal conditions for the competition. “They’ve got some good land,” Hallahan confirmed. “You shouldn’t have to worry about too many stones or wet spots. It’s some nice land to plow on. They also just built a new driving shed there a couple years ago - they have really good facilities.” A few neighbouring fields will also be made available to any young people looking for a place to practise before their match.
This summer, the whole Hallahan clan also managed a rare getaway to another iconic Canadian agricultural event: the Calgary Stampede. “Man, was there a pile of people there!” he exclaimed. “Shania [Twain] led the parade, so Sarah [Hallahan, Steve and Arletta’s daughter] ran up, and got a picture. And there had to be at least 150 people in each marching band - the Calgary Stampede Show Band, the firefighters’ band, the policemen’s band, the Legion band… you’d swear you were at an American football game, the way they performed!”
The Calgary Stampede’s diverse showcase of western skills also left a lasting impression on Hallahan - especially the world champion hoop dancer he saw as part of its annual exhibition of Indigenous arts. “He got there with all these hoops along his arms, and he has got to be a really good athlete to do all the jumps and flips that he was doing,” he recalled. All dance-based Indigenous traditions, like hoop dancing, were banned by the Canadian government from the 1850s until 1951, with the sole exception of the Calgary Stampede, where dance-based Native arts and ceremonies were allowed every year.
The roots of the HCPM stretch back for generations, and it remains a staple of the rural calendar. While the tradition does run deep, the annual plowing match has always been a place to highlight modern agricultural technologies. “We’ve got new machinery displays,” Hallahan informed The Citizen. “The Soil and Crop Improvement Association is doing drone demos - apparently they’ve got a robot that goes down the rows of corn and spits out little bits of fertilizer… and they’ve got drones that can spread fertilizer from the air - it’ll be interesting to see that kind of stuff.”
However, Hallahan draws a firm line in the field when it comes to the question of allowing automatic, driverless, plowing robots to enter into plowing matches. “The competition would be gone if you do that,” he pointed out. “You could program a computer to do it perfectly, but it takes the skill and the talent of a real competitor to make it happen.”
Preserving various historical plowing techniques, from horse to tractor, is one of the core missions of the HCPA, and it’s a mission that Hallahan is passionate about. “Plowing is getting to be a lost art,” he explained. “There's very few people that plow around here anymore - we’ve gone to conservation tillage, and high-speed disc, and all that. But plowing is how this land was developed… if you were good at plowing, and got your land turned over in the fall and got the soil in good condition - you had better crops for next year. The plow really was the first tool that opened up this land, and got the crops growing.”
As HCPA president, Hallahan knows how much work it takes to put together this annual agricultural showcase. From the cold-weather planning stages to the final furrow in August, the effort of putting together the HCPM is basically a year-round undertaking. After each year’s match, there’s a review meeting in October, and an AGM in December. Every other year, they elect a new executive at the AGM. January to April is all dedicated to planning, logistics are locked in between May and July, and then, mid-August, the match is held. This year’s banquet will again feature the ever-popular roast beef dinner from Cardiff Catering, and the Cavan United Church ladies are going to be handling the breakfast on Friday.
Junior participation continues to grow, which is a trend Hallahan is thrilled to see - last year’s Junior Day brought in young people from far beyond the borders of Huron County to compete.
As the 2025 HCPM draws near, Hallahan’s focus remains fixed on what truly matters: community, heritage and pride in a job well done. “A lot of counties are envious of Huron County, and what we do here - we have good turnouts for the competition, and we have piles of people that come out for breakfast, and the banquet, and the silent auction,” Hallahan explained. “It’s something that’s been built up for years and years - people know it’s a nice afternoon to come out and talk about farming, and feel fellowship with farmers. People just keep coming back, year after year. And there’s no superstars there, no high-priced shows or demonstrations - it's just neighbours getting together, being competitive, and sharing a meal at the end of the day.”