Dancing tractors make a final appearance at International Plowing Match
By Amanda Nelson
The Square Dancing Tractors made a special return to the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) in Walkerton this year, entertaining crowds one last time as the five-day agricultural event welcomed more than 71,000 visitors.
The 107th IPM officially opened Sept. 22, with Bruce Power holding its opening-day parade through the tented city while hundreds of vendors and entertainers offered activities for families and people of all ages.
Visitors experienced competitive tractor and horse plowing, agricultural exhibits and demonstrations, hundreds of vendors and exhibitors, live entertainment, parades, educational programming and special events.
Competition remained at the heart of the match, with plowmen and plowwomen from Ontario, the United States, Belgium and Ireland competing throughout the week.
One special opportunity for attendees was the return of the Square Dancing Tractors, a group that retired in 2019 but came back for one final performance at this year's IPM.
In 2008, Team Farmall's Bruce County performed at the International Plowing Match in Teeswater. The Square Dancing Tractors were formed to entertain crowds, and although the group retired in 2019, members returned to the stage one last time at this year's event in Walkerton.
“We were retired, but the Bruce County plowing match was pretty persistent,” joked Steve Donaldson, a Team Farmall member.
The group consists of 12 drivers, or “dancers,” and one square dance caller. Members have been practising since March to prepare for this year's performance.
“We’re all great buddies, and we’ve become extremely close friends,” said Donaldson. “We all joke that we’re brothers now.”
Team Farmall consists of Teeswater-area neighbours and friends, as well as three generations of the Ireland family, who now work together to entertain onlookers during the performance.
The IPM also featured the Ontario Queen of the Furrow competition, held each year as counties, regions and districts throughout Ontario send representatives who have won competitions held by their local branch associations.
Carmen Ward of Grey-Normanby was crowned the 2026-2027 Ontario Queen of the Furrow, receiving the honour Friday evening as the province's plowing community gathered to celebrate its top competitors and recognize the next generation of agricultural ambassadors.
A total of 71,330 visitors came through the gates during the five-day event, held Sept. 22-26 in Walkerton. It was the largest attendance recorded at an IPM since the event returned following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2026 match was the fifth IPM held since the pandemic, making the attendance an important milestone for an event that, like many large-scale gatherings, has worked to rebuild attendance and momentum in a changing post-pandemic environment.
“We dreamed big from the beginning, and our community stepped up in an extraordinary way,” said Gord Lang, chair of the IPM 2026 local committee. “To welcome more than 71,000 people to Bruce County and record the largest attendance the IPM has seen since the pandemic is something our entire community can be incredibly proud of.”
“We set an ambitious target, and more than 71,000 people chose to spend part of their week with us and see, firsthand, what Bruce County had to offer,” Lang said. “Our attendance grew every single day. What a tremendous success.”
The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo is a five-day celebration of agriculture and rural living organized collaboratively by the Ontario Plowmen's Association and a local organizing committee. Held in a different Ontario community each year, the IPM features competitive plowing, agricultural education, hundreds of exhibitors and vendors, live entertainment and programming for visitors of all ages.
The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo was first held in 1913.
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