The attendance numbers are in, and there is plenty to celebrate following the 2026 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) in Bruce County.
A total of 71,330 visitors came through the gates of the five-day event, held September 22–26 in Walkerton — 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 result 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.
Attendance grew every day of the Match, culminating in a crowd of 18,670 on Saturday
— the busiest day of the week.
For the Local Committee, the final numbers are particularly meaningful after years of
planning and an extraordinary community effort involving more than 1,700 volunteers.
“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, first hand, what Bruce County had to offer. Our attendance grew every single day. What a tremendous success.”
At the heart of that achievement were the more than 1,700 local and provincial
volunteers who helped build, operate and support virtually every aspect of the massive
event. For two years leading up to the Match, volunteers served on committees, developed
programmes, recruited sponsors and exhibitors, prepared the site and worked through
the thousands of details required to transform farmland into a temporary city capable of
welcoming tens of thousands of people. During Match week, they were everywhere.
“Our volunteers were the heart and soul of IPM 2026,” Lang said. “They welcomed
visitors, drove shuttles, directed traffic, served meals, supported our competitors and
exhibitors, answered questions and solved countless problems behind the scenes. More
than 1,700 people gave their time and talents to make this happen. This success
belongs to them.”
The 107th International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) transformed farmland outside
Walkerton into a five-day showcase of agriculture, rural and community life.
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 plow-women from
Ontario, the United States, Belgium and Ireland competing throughout the week. Six Ontario competitors also earned the right to represent the province at the 2027
Canadian Plowing Championships: Junior Champion Dugald McIntosh of Seaforth;
Reserve Junior Champion Brendan Hickey of Auburn; Tractor (Conventional) Champion
Brian Davenport of Owen Sound; Tractor (Conventional) Reserve Champion Mark
Varkaamp of Hagersville; Tractor (Reversible) Champion Tom Evans of Tiverton; and
Tractor (Reversible) Reserve Champion Robert Sterling of Chatham.
The Match also saw Carmen Ward of Grey Normanby crowned the 2026–2027 Ontario
Queen of the Furrow, while Saturday also provided an encouraging glimpse at the future of
the plowing tradition. A record of 35 young competitors took to the fields for the Junior
Plowing Competition, including two competing with horses.
The 2026 Match was also rich in history, marking the 50th anniversary of the first IPM
hosted in Bruce County in 1976 and returning to the same Walkerton-area farmland that
welcomed the Match in both 1976 and 1993. Today, much of that land is part of Lang
Farms, with the 2026 Match hosted on lands including the farm of Tony and Elaine Lang.
Another piece of Bruce County IPM history returned to the spotlight with the much anticipated return of Team Farmall and its square-dancing tractors. The hometown crowd
favourite first delighted IPM audiences when Bruce County hosted the Match in Teeswater in 2008, and returned to perform at IPM 2026 after a seven-year hiatus.
The Match provided Bruce County with an opportunity to introduce tens of thousands of
visitors to its agricultural sector, rural communities, businesses and people.
The week also coincided with Ontario’s inaugural Rural Ontario Week, providing an
especially fitting backdrop for an event rooted in celebrating the people, businesses and
communities that contribute to rural Ontario.
“The International Plowing Match has endured and evolved for more than a century
because communities continue to embrace it and make it their own,” said Melvin
Switzer, President of the Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA). “Bruce County did
exactly that. The enthusiasm of the volunteers, sponsors, exhibitors, competitors and
visitors could be felt throughout the week.”
But for organizers, some of the most important measures of success cannot be captured
by attendance numbers alone. They are found in the school children discovering agriculture, the conversations between farmers and consumers, the competitors carrying forward generations of plowing tradition, the businesses and organizations making new connections, and the friendships forged among more than 1,700 local and provincial volunteers working toward a common goal.
“For five days, we had the privilege of showing tens of thousands of people what makes
Bruce County special,” Lang said. “They saw our agriculture, our communities and our
hospitality — but most importantly, they met our people. We hope they left with great
memories and a reason to come back.”
With the 2026 Match now complete, the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo
tradition moves on to Petrolia in Lambton County, host of the 2027 event.
For Bruce County, however, the legacy of IPM 2026 will continue long after the last tent
has come down – 71,330 visitors. Five days. More than 1,700 volunteers. One remarkable
community effort.
About The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM): 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.
About The Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA): The Ontario Plowmen’s Association is the parent host of the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo. Each year the OPA partners with a community to organize and host the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo.
