Another title triumph for master ploughman
WITH age comes experience, but with success comes envy: over an illustrious career Powys farmer Evan Watkin has accrued both, harnessing them to dominate Welsh ploughing for the past 15 years.
At the All Wales Ploughing and Hedging Championships, he won back his Champion Ploughman of Wales title.
It was his 11th national victory in a career that has also seen him represent Wales with distinction on the international stage, though the world title continues, frustratingly, to elude him.
At the age of 58 he ought to be a flag-bearer for Welsh ploughing, but the dearth of new and emerging talent in Wales is a concern both for Evan and his peers.
Not that he minded too much at Boverton Place Farm when he cruised to the All Wales title. It was his third national title in the Vale of Glamorgan.
“It was a grassland plot, which I prefer to plough, and it all went well,” said Evan, of Newmills, Llanfair Caereinion.
“Prior to the event it had been wet but the day itself was dry, which made it easier to plough, and enjoyable too. When I won in Glamorgan in 2010 the weather was dry and the ground was hard to plough.
“You need luck, of course, as it can depend on which plot you get drawn.”
Victory will see him represent Wales at the World Ploughing Match in Germany next year. Even if he had qualified, he would have missed this year’s world match in Kenya, the logistics being too tortuous (though Cardigan ploughman Wyn Jones will be making the trip for the Conventional competition).
In Baden-Württemberg Evan is determined to remove a monkey from his back: on the world stage he’s been second twice and third once.
“In fact I think I’ve occupied every place in the top 10 other than first,” he said.
“It’s the one title that everyone wants to win – and no-one from Wales has yet done it.”
If last year’s All Wales defeat was the cue for some minor soul-searching, it didn’t last long. Ever the competitor, the new season rekindled his desire to prove himself on the fields of Wales and beyond.
“I can’t say I’m getting any better with age, and sometimes you do wonder if you’ll ever win again and whether to call it a day,” he said.
“But I’m not ready to retire just yet. The next season you come out fighting again and you hope to get back on top.
“In my career I’ve been extremely grateful to the people who have helped me along the way. But I’ve been almost as grateful to the people who don’t want you to win, as that gives you the spur to keep going!”
Back at home, at Ty Brith farm, Newmills, Evan keeps 45 suckler cattle and grows spring barley, which gives him scope to practice his art.
Less than three miles away, wife Menna is the third generation landlady at the Cefn Coch Inn, which she runs with daughters Megan and Carys, leaving son Evan to co-run the farm.
Despite his dad’s achievements with a plough, Evan junior has no desire to follow in his footsteps.
“I think he’s seen how much time I’ve wasted (on the competition circuit),” quipped his father.
“He’s happier to focus on the farm and do some contracting work.”
The latter observation highlights a more serious issue affecting Welsh ploughing.
Despite the plaudits received by current and past practitioners, and the help being offered by ploughing societies, Evan believes there is a real shortage of new talent coming through, with one or two notable exceptions.
“Farming has become a rat race with lots of stress, it’s difficult to find the time” he said. “The youth is not coming through and I think things will look very different for Welsh ploughing in 10 years time.
“It’s a shame, as how you care for the land is so important: look after your land and it will look after you.”
The All Wales Championships marked the start of a taxing weeklong tour for Evan in which he drove anti-clockwise around Wales and Ireland with two ferry trips in between.
From Glamorgan he headed home, then on to Anglesey to catch the ferry to Dublin en route to the three-day Irish National Ploughing Championships.
Evan had been given the honour of judging at an event which regularly attracts more than 100,000 visitors on the opening day.
Before returning home last Friday, he attended the funeral of Martin Kehoe Jr, aged 33, who had been found dead in a molasses tank on his farm.
A champion in his own right, Martin was a member of one of Ireland’s best-known ploughing families, and Evan is friends with his father.
From there he headed to Pembrokeshire, via Rosslare, to compete in another match before finally heading home.
It’s a big commitment, but Evan wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it but more than that are the people you meet and the friendships you make,” he said.
“Through competitive ploughing I’ve gained friends around the world. Each year I look forward to meeting up with them, and that’s the real point of it all.”