2026 National Results

2026 National Plowing Competition Fall Newsletter

Good day ladies and gentlemen of the USAPO.

The summer is coming to an end and the fall harvest has begun. Where did the year go? For some us who like

plow days, there are still a few opportunities to play in the dirt but for most of us, the plowing is complete for

the year. We had a good year and I thought that I would recap the highlights for you.

First item up is the passing of a long-time plowing member, Harold Forrester from Pennsylvania. Harold was a

member of the Pennsylvania Plowing Organization as well as the USAPO. Harold will be missed and we offer

our condolences to his family and pray they find comfort in their loving memories of Harold. I believe there is

a special place in the Lord’s kingdom for plowman and good stewards of the earth. It is green, rock free, and

the finish furrow works out correctly, every time.

State Matches

All our host states, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Illinois held local or state

matches to qualify plowmen and plow-women for the national matches. Competitions were held for Antique,

Open, Vintage small plow, Small plow and Reversible classes. The top three winners of each class were

eligible to compete at the 2026 national plowing matches in Iowa.

National Matches

The national matches were held in Cedar Falls, Iowa on August 21st and 22nd. The weather cooperated but the

plowing conditions were tough. The antique tractor show hosting our event did not get the oats off in time so

they had to be mowed off two days before the competition. The result was long, poorly cut grass and weeds for

our plowmen to battle with. The plowmen all had fun anyway and everyone had the same type of plot to plow.

On a high note, we had 42 USA plowmen compete this year and that was awesome! We thank you for your

participation and travel to Iowa.

As president of the Iowa Plowing Association, I would like to give a shout out to the IPA board members. Your

assistance and hard work helped keep the train on the tracks, even when the tracks couldn’t be seen in the deep

grass. It took a team and you were all up to the challenge. Thank you one and all!

Here is a list of the USA competition winners.

Senior Division

Place Antique Open Vintage Sm Plow Small Plow

1st Dick Opthal Jacob Loehr Joe Loehr Jeremy Nietfeld

2nd Corey Goehring Nick Olinger Mike Penas Kyle Fourman

3rd Rod Burkhard Al VantHul Chad Adelmund Ray Elsberry

Junior Division

Place Junior Antique Junior Open Junior Sm Plow

1st Mason Brake Riley Brunk Jayden Nietfeld

2

nd Nicholas Schettler

3rd

The national board members held a short meeting after the plowmen’s banquet. The issue of reducing the host

state fee, paid to the USAPO by the host state, was discussed and it was unanimously agreed and voted to drop

the state host fees from $4,000 to $3,000. With this drop in host state fees, each state will be responsible for

provide the trophies for the national competition. I think this is a winner all around. On another good note,

thanks to the efforts of Dale Dircksen, Ohio’s 2025 host fee has been paid in full and we are all caught up.

World Matches

The 2026 World Ploughing Matches were held in Croatia this year and team USA did great! I spoke with Gene

Gruber (Coach) about the matches and he indicated the soil was very dry and hard but they managed to re-work

their shares and cut through it anyway. Miss Haley Gruber placed 8th overall in conventional plowing and

received 1st place for plowmen under the age of 25. Congratulations Haley!

Mr. Kevin Albrecht did an outstanding job and placed 3rd overall as well as 3rd in the grassland reversible

plowing. Congratulations Kevin!

International Plowing Matches (IPM) in Canada

Gene Gruber and I (Ray Elsberry) traveled to Walkerton, Canada for the 2026 IPM matches. Kevin Albrecht

was planning to attend as well but illness kept him home. It was a long drive but it was a great time and I made

lots of new friends. Gene rekindled or was reunited with his friends as well. We were graciously hosted by

Brian and Susan Davenport, longtime friends of Gene, during our stay.

In case you are wondering about the IPM, it was a great event. There were approximately 120 plow men and

women of all ages participating in the matches. I would say the IPM resembles a smaller state fair in the U.S.

It was much larger than I imagined. We drew plots each day and plowed for [4] days! The ground was

extremely rocky and pretty dry but we all had the same dirt to work with. Our plow shares really took a beating

and Gene helped me keep mine in working condition, thank you sir. The competition was really tough each day

but I could tell by the end of day 3 that it was going to be a battle between Gene Gruber and our friend Brian

Davenport for first place. These guys are on another level when plowing. On day four, both of these gentlemen

completed the most beautiful plots I’ve seen.

The IPM banquet was held the evening of the 4th day and I am proud to say that Mr. Gene Gruber of the USA

took the win in the conventional class! Outstanding! Brian Davenport was right behind him in 2nd place. I did

not see the point spread between them but it had to be only a few points. I mean very few. Taking the top

Canadian spot at the IPM means that Brian Davenport will be plowing at next year’s Canadian Championship.

We wish you the best of luck sir.

WPO Future Plow Sites:

2027 WP in Kenya, 1st and 2nd week of December

2028 WP in Netherlands, August 19-27

2029 WP in New Zealand, 1st week in March

USAPO Dues

As a quick reminder, you probably aren’t thinking about it just yet but remember to send in your USAPO dues

for 2027 after first of the year. I’ll remind you in the spring newsletter.

That’s all the information I have to share with you for 2026. If you have any USAPO questions, please feel free

to contact any of the board members at the top of this newsletter. We’ll be glad to help.

Sincerely,

Ray Elsberry

USAPO Sec./Treasurer

641-485-4011

Relsberry61@gmail.com

Download the latest membership form from the downloads page. https://usapo.org/downloads

U.S.A. Ploughing Organization

Dues, $30.00 Make checks payable to: USAPO

Send to: 

Roger Neate
14837 Greenville Rd
Van Wert, OH 45891
Phone 419-203-0293
email: smallploughfarm@gmail.com

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Download the latest USAPO newsletter from the downloads page. Featuring winners and their states from the National Plowing Contest.