Ploughing profit may be about $40,000

Press, 11 July 1980, Page 15

Ploughing profit may be about $40,000

The world ploughing contest and the New Zeaand ploughing champion?’ships held in the Lincoln ' district in ?'ay look like producing a profit of • about $40,000. ■ This was- indicated in a - report made to a meeting - of the organising com- ; fnittee of the contest this • week bv its secretary, Mr -P. F. Wood. '• This is the outcome of y many money raising efforts in support of the ” contest apart from the gate at the contest itself which exceeded $41,000. It is expected that the •; accounts for the contest will he finalised shortly. The surplus will ultim- ' ately be handed over to ; the New Zealand Plough- < ing Association on whose ■ behalf the contest was or’i ganised for the World Ploughing Organisation. When it was suggested £ at the meetir that local ploughing . associations ; around the country, which had . eohtfibuted to the ’funds, of A the organising ; committee, might be reintbursed in vfhw of the ‘‘ healthy-, state v'of . the fin- • antes, .the president- of the f New Zealand Ploughing ■■ Association, Mr I. B. Blair, who is also ..convener of ' the finance sub-committee »of the- organising -..com--"mittee, said he could give an assurance that j the money when invested 'would be used in the best interests-of ploughmen. ' In the early stages when 'plans’ were being mad: for .this year’s contest it was that the local might contrib•»ute Up to $5OO each in 'support of the contest. X The view- was expressed >at this week’s meeting £that there was little .point Mn having a wealthy ory -ganisation in Wellington if /Socal associations at grass

roots levels were not in a healthy state. The chairman of the organising committee, Mr R. M. Kingsbury, said that the associations ha.l been asked for a donation — not a loan. He said that this had given them a sense of participating in the organisation of the event. Committee members were unhappy’ about one aspect of the contest — that was the television

. coverage, given it at th£ actual time it .was being held and in particular in other areas of the country "'away from Canterbury, where ploughing people had given help to the contest. This was in spite of the efforts of the committee to, see that there was good coverage of the contest , and also the "amount of film- shot and efforts of Christchurch television staff.

Mr Blair said that he did not think that they would have an axe to grind had they not spent money on television advertising, but this they had done. The committee’s disappointment at the coverage of this world event will he .-.veyed in a let-ter-to the director-general of the service.