Precision plowing

Farming has always been a part of Alex Vanasky’s life.

The 83-year-old great grandfather grew up on a dairy farm in Blake Township and often helped with chores from tilling the land to feeding the cows. Venasky’s son now owns the family farm, but the retired farmer still visits and helps his son often.

"I’ve farmed all my life," Venasky said. "Not everyone is into farming any more. It’s more like a business. Farming is getting too big but to me it’s a way of life."

When Venasky worked on his farm, he said he considered his animals to be pets, a way of thinking not shared by most modern farmers who he said seem to treat animals like products.

Traditionally, families ran farms and used what they grew to support themselves. Now there are fewer smaller family-owned farms and more large farms owned by an individual, he said.

Venasky said he remembered a good farmer was someone who could milk about 40 cows a day, a standard that has changed now that bigger farms can milk more than 140 cows a day.

"When I started there were roughly 298 farmers in the area, which was anyone who shipped out any amount of milk," he said. "Now, there’s about 26 farmers left and there is way more milk produced compared to when there was 298. Farming is just bigger now."

Some farming traditions remain unchanged and were celebrated Saturday in Slate River Valley at the 78th annual Slate River Valley Plow Match, which Venasky attended.

The annual event began in 1927 on the John MacKay Hunt Farm and has been held almost every year since. The The event did take a five-year break during the Second World War.

Venasky first competed in 1956 and took home the grand championship in 1962. He said the match has changed over time. In the earlier years competitors used horses, but eventually technological advancements allowed them to graduate to riding plows, then tractors.

Competitors are required to plow and till a plot of land about 120-feet-wide by 40-feet-long. Pasi Pinta, a contestant at Saturday’s plow match, said he never participated in the event or plowed before but wanted to try something different.

"I have a lot of friends in the farmer community and they invited me to try it," Pinta said. "I’m not a farmer but both sides of my family have strong farming roots. It’s huge to connect back to the farming community. This is where our food comes from and this is one way to be apart of it, in a small way."

Tom Loghrin, president of the Slate River Valley Plowman’s Association, said about 15 people participated at the plowing match, which is slightly less compared to last year.

Besides the competitive aspect of the matches, it also gives farmers a chance to take a break and socialize within their community, he said.

"This is certainly an established tradition," Loghrin said. "There is a core of people who really believe in this competition and like to practice the skill. The farmers here are a pretty progressive bunch and I think it’s really important to get the folks out from town to see this. It’s important that they come face to face and shoulder to shoulder with the people who are growing their food."