In the mud and rain here yesterday, farmers were muttering that the National Ploughing Championships in Tullow, Co Carlow, were saying that the event was "the K Club without the money".
Strange then that the largest tent on the site had been put together by overseas property investment companies who were happily flogging properties from Bulgaria to Belgravia to a steady flow of farming folk.
Business was brisk, I was told by one woman, who thought that she had moved seven Spanish properties over the first day of the event.
The crowds were down to just over 40,000 because of the wet and windy weather. The rain turned the ground into a soggy mess around the 800 stands adorning this instant tented village, which was battered by gales.
The media now know the true meaning of becoming an "embedded reporter" in the heavy underfoot conditions which, in fairness, took nothing at all away from this good-humoured festival of farmers.
"It's true you know, farmers are weather-proofed" said one seasoned old hack, Joe Murray, who has seen more ploughing championships than most and still cannot explain the allure.
There was only one sour note , the public booing of Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan, as she formally opened the event, by former sugar beet farmers.