Thousands of people and 1,700 volunteers walked the dirt roads of the International Plowing Match (IPM) near Walkerton last week. 71,330 is the official attendance figure, according to the Ontario Plowmen’s Association, the highest attendance figure since 2022 when the IPM returned after COVID. That number is on par with previous IPM’s, but below the 100,000 visitors, Bruce County organizers were aiming for. Attendance grew each day, from 10,238 on opening day, Sept 22, to 18,670 on closing day Sept. 26. 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 five-day event a success, drawing in visitors to farmer’s fields near Walkerton, from around the world for the agricultural showcase.
