Top ploughing practitioners are in Canterbury for the national ploughing championships.
More than 30 contestants from Waikato to Southland will compete in the annual event, which is being held in the Lincoln area on the weekend of 5 and 6 April.
They are competing for the Silver Plough title, as well as the reversible ploughing, vintage ploughing using pre-1995 gear.
There is also a contest for horse drawn ploughing teams.
The winners of the reversible and conventional ploughing classes will represent New Zealand at the world ploughing championships to be held in France in September 2014.
Ploughing Association Executive officer Noel Sheat of Palmerston said the forecast is for fine weather and conditions should be right at the plough sites, which are on flat fertile, land about 5 km from Lincoln.
He said there have been a number of young people coming into ploughing since 2010, especially in the Canterbury and Otago Southland areas, but the problem they face is finding the money to buy the expensive equipment needed.
Mr Sheat said for that reason New Zealand Ploughing makes available rental equipment to help younger competitors.
A Town and Country Fair is being held on Tancreds Rd, just outside Lincoln in conjunction with the championships.
