IN turmoil! Despite trying to put on a brave face, this is how Yorkshire's agricultural show organisers must be feeling as the first of this season's annual jamborees gears up for its 199th show in a week's time.

Otley Show has long been the herald to a packed calendar that sees over 50 such events from large-scale affairs such as the Great Yorkshire, Driffield, Ryedale and Kilnsey to smaller yet equally important shows such as Muker, Bishop Wilton, Hinderwell and Rosedale taking place throughout the county.

But for people such as Janet Raw, Otley Show secretary, the past months leading up to this year's show have proved very difficult. The essence of agricultural shows lies in the competitions for cattle, sheep, goats and horses. There are many more attractions too, but these generally form the core of farming support.

The problem is that restrictions put in place over the movement of animals, due to Bluetongue disease regulations, have sent the showing world into disarray.

Under the regulations, animals in one area cannot come into contact with animals from another and whenever a case of Bluetongue has been found a little further north than it had been found before, the divide between what is regarded as being in the diseased radius and what is not has shifted further upwards.

This has led to one area being nicknamed "clean" and the other "dirty". Otley was on the dividing line until March and that was creating huge problems for both the appearance of livestock at the show as well as Otley's own livestock market, Wharfedale Mart, where part of its trade has been effectively hamstrung.

There was a concern expressed by the show officials that they might end up with just one exhibitor turning up in each class. That's hardly going to give it the competitive edge that show people enjoy, but at least it would retain the agricultural content.

Janet explains: "In our case the president and chairman of the show, and myself, came together for a meeting on March 18 to come up with a plan to see what we could do for our livestock competitors.

"We asked all of our committee members to ring everyone who had exhibited stock in the past two years to ascertain whether they would still come if we ran the show as an agricultural exhibition of stock rather than as competitions. The Texels, Dalesbreds and Limousins were just some of the sections that seemed to be going that way."

Just a few days later though, the picture changed again. A case of Bluetongue was found in Lincolnshire, moving the clean/dirty beyond Otley and into the far north of the county. It was the news Janet needed, even though in broader terms it only shifted the worries from one set of show organisers to another. "That really gave us heart that we could run all of the competitive classes and we decided to go for it properly," she says.

"Although some regular exhibitors cannot make it because they are still in a clean area, we have now picked up around 70 per cent of the show stock we would normally have here."

What Janet and her fellow organisers have found in addition is that, because some people don't know from one minute to the next which zone they are going to be in, they haven't got their show stock fully event-ready.

Livestock showing is a profession in itself and stock is selected and prepared months and sometimes years in advance. Cattle are taught how to walk and how to stand, and a great deal of attention is paid to temperament.

The reason many farmers show stock is not just to pick up rosettes but to enhance their reputation as a breeder of repute, and it is vital to them that everything should be in good order.

Show organisers have grown used to fearing the worst. They have been hit regularly by disease regulations and restrictions and by appalling weather.

The increase in red tape, insurance costs and movement restrictions, means there's now a real danger that the value of shows to those who exhibit regularly will diminish to the point where they can no longer be bothered.

Janet fervently hopes this is not the case. But she concedes that in her 13 years as Otley Show secretary she has probably presided over the most difficult times in
its history. "We've had foot and mouth and now Bluetongue to cope with, we've had terrible weather that affected a lot of shows last year, but we've also had to cope with increased costs due to risk assessment regulations.

"The good thing is that in all of that time I really do believe we have become a more agriculturally and family based show and that's how we hope to continue. Next year is our 200th anniversary and we have big plans for it. The exhibitors have been through a lot in recent years but they're still here. Long may that continue!"

Elsewhere in the county, Ken Harrison of Hovingham has been involved with Malton Show for many years and he tells of how important the show season is to everyone in the rural community. "There is a bit more optimism in farming right now and farmers need a showcase to show the general public what goes on. Yes, we all have to have things like motorbike displays to attract more of the general public. But it is the farming side that is really important to us."

Every year there is fantastic support for agricultural shows throughout the county and when the sun shines there is no better event during the summer for those who enjoy the countryside. The event organisers put countless hours, often unpaid, into making sure everyone enjoys themselves – but behind the scenes there are not just worries but deep-seated concerns over the future of many.

Once the season gets under way next Saturday at Otley, let's just hope and pray there is no more legislation, disease announcements or bad weather prior to that, and that the 2008 season is not as disrupted as some have been in the recent past.