The national ploughing championships, managed by the NPA, is Irelands premier agricultural event. As a sign of our continual commitment to the promotion and development of the agricultural industry, the institutes president will be attending for the full three days of the championships to interact with agricultural specialists and practitioners at this event. He is quoted as saying “we need to maintain a strong presence on ground level, to ensure that the views of our primary sector industries are heard [within this] organisation”. Also quoted from the same speech relating to animal health, with took place at the quarterly executive board meeting in June 2009, he urged the executive to allocate time within his diary for attendance at this event in the future. ”These three days are to be among the first entered [in my official diary] for any future years”. Championships this year will take place from today, the 22nd, through until the 24th September.