Thousands of people walked the dirt roads of the International Plowing Match (IPM) near Walkerton last week. 71,300 is the official attendance figure, according to the Ontario Plowmen’s Association. That number is on par with previous IPM’s, but below the 100,000 visitors, Bruce County organizers were aiming for. Bruce County has hosted the IPM, four times in the past 50 years. At the first match in 1976, nearly 200,000 took in the tented city. In 2008, at the match in Teeswater, nearly 95,000 took in the event. Organizers are still calling the 5 day event “a success”, drawing in visitors to farmer’s fields near Walkerton, from around the world for an agricultural showcase.
