Veterans of the National Ploughing Championships are agreed that this year's event in Castletownroche, Co Cork, is the wettest and muckiest they have witnessed. Castletownroche yesterday was a sea of yellow mud, which made conditions more than difficult.
But it made little difference to the farming folk, who are used to it. They turned out in their thousands to support the event. Over 40,000 of them muddied their boots and ploughed their way through the mud to savour the unique atmosphere of the competition.
It was an impressive day out. Even the US ambassador to Ireland, the Stetson-wearing Mike Sullivan, confessed he had never seen anything like it.
He picked his way through the rain and mud in his wellington boots, enjoying every minute. He took part with the British ambassador, Ivor Roberts, in cutting the tape to declare the event officially open.
We could scarcely see the ground as thousands of feet churned the mud over the steel trackways into a yellow porridge, which covered man and beast. It was the late arrival of that trackway, which was used as landing strips during the Gulf War, combined with the heavy rain in recent days, which caused the difficulties.
Heavy machinery was moved in by exhibitors before this protection was laid down, and this cut up the ground. It seemed that the entire site, with its 900 trade stands, was being ploughed.
The normally unflappable Anna May McHugh, the managing director of the NPA, admitted it was "a miracle" that the event had gone ahead. She said that hosting an event with 900 stands on a greenfield site was becoming too much.
Of course, the ploughing, as it is known, is no place for the fainthearted, and the craic and music continued throughout a day which eventually rewarded fans by delivering some late-evening sunshine.
However, today is another day, and we will all go ploughing on because, according to Anna May, there was only one time when the ploughing was cancelled. And that was because of snow.