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Ten agriculture world records you probably didn’t know existed

Farming and agriculture is a pioneering industry, so it's no surprise to learn that it plays host to some fascinating record-breaking feats. From the world's heaviest marrow to the largest crop circle, here are some of our favourite agriculture world record holders.

Longest journey by tractor

Between 8th May and 23rd October 2016, Hubert Berger travelled across 36 European countries, starting and ending at his home in Germany. He drove a whopping 15,769.38 miles in his Eicher Tiger II tractor to be awarded this world record.

Most tractors ploughing simultaneously

The most tractors ploughing simultaneously was 2,141 at The British Tractor Challenge 2006. This was hosted at Hullavington Air Base in Wiltshire on 25th June 2006 and was organised by John and Lynda Collingborn.

Heaviest marrow

This record is held by Bradley Wursten from the Netherlands. In 2009, he presented a marrow at the Dutch Giant Vegetable Championships that weighed in at over 93kg. That’s the weight of a baby elephant!

Most expensive sheep

The eight-month old Texal tup, Deveronvale Perfection from Lanark in Scotland sold for £231,000 in August 2009. It has also been reported that in September 2011, a single rare-breed Dolan sheep was up for sale in China, with the highest bid at £1.4 million, although no sale was agreed. 


Most expensive sheep

Biggest crop circle

On 17th May 2005, Peter Dalponte from Richland, New Jersey woke to find a crop circle measuring around 1.5 acres in area at his farm. Aliens or pranksters… you decide…

Most wheat harvest by a single combine harvester in eight hours

In August 2014, New Holland Agriculture managed to harvest a hefty 797.656 tonnes of wheat with a combine in Lincolnshire, UK.

Largest scarecrow gathering

Hosted by National Forest Adventure Farm (UK), an impressive 3,812 scarecrows gathered in Staffordshire, UK to gain this world record in August 2014. Straw-ful if you have a scarecrow phobia...

World’s oldest pig

Ernestine from Calgary, Canada lived until the ripe old age of 23, from 1991 until 2014. She passed away peacefully in 2014 after living a long and happy life with her owners Jude and Dan King, who looked after since she was a piglet.

Most milk ‘milked’ from a cow in two minutes

This very precise record is held by Dairy farmer Gunter Wahl from Germany. His turbo-milking skills saw him extract almost four litres of milk from a cow in December 2008. That’s a lot of cups of tea!

Fastest hay-bale roll

In 1989, Young Farmers Marcus Stanley and Michael Priestly rolled a cylindrical hay-bale 50 metres in an impressive 18 seconds at the annual Young Farmers’ Club sports day in Lincolnshire. 

Fancy launching a bid to become the next world record holder in your industry? Or maybe you’re simply looking to fund the machinery and equipment needed to grow your business. Paragon offers a range of agricultural finance solutions and our team of specialists will be happy to help. 

You can also come and talk to us at LAMMA from 7th-8th January on stand 8-9 102.

Paragon Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered in England number 05390593. Registered office 51 Homer Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3QJ. Paragon Bank PLC is registered on the Financial Services Register under the firm reference number 604551