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No business like show business as giant Great Yorkshire leads the field
After a long and proud history, the Great Yorkshire Show is now the pre-eminent agricultural event in England. Our agricultural correspondent Mark Casci reports.
Watch preview videos and coverage of last year's event
FOR more than 150 years, it has been a staple of the Yorkshire calendar.
Like Christmas, the Great Yorkshire Show looms large on the horizon and frantic preparations begin for it months before the big day and the immediate aftermath is reserved for well-earned recuperation
and rest.
More than 125,000 people attend the event each year, and in 2008, as organisers celebrated the 150th show, the Queen was guest of honour.
It has come a long way from the event set up in the 1830s by local farmers to raise the profile of agriculture and provide a shop window for the county's farming community.
The organisers of that first show met in the back room of a pub in York and while no attendance figures exist, it was certainly a far cry from the huge event it has since become.
This year's show takes on a new significance in that it comes after its biggest rival the Royal Show, held near Warwick, announced that this year would be its last.
For some years now, the Great Yorkshire Show's profile has been rising nationally in the farming community and the demise of the Royal Show effectively cements it as the country's top agricultural show.
Becoming England's biggest farming showcase naturally brings with it increased responsibility and rather than sit back and enjoy the glory, the show's organiser, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, is pledging to pursue a new agenda to enhance and improve the
event to make it worthy of its lofty status.
"The Royal Show as the prime show in the country was always very good at attracting the opinion formers," says Bill Cowling, the show's director.
"By this I mean the Ministers of Government, these sorts of people. We have got better at that over the years but I still think we can do more and hope that now there will not be a show in the week before us that more of these people can come to the Great Yorkshire Show."
The Royal Show traditionally took place the week before the Great Yorkshire Show, meaning it had the rub of the green when it came to attracting guests.
"These are busy people and perhaps could not afford to lose the time that comes from being out of the office for two weeks. This is now something we can benefit from and it is now up to us to make sure we put on the best show we can.
"With regards to livestock entries, then it must be positive. We are pretty much at capacity at the moment, but just because we are at capacity does not mean we cannot look at ways of addressing that for next year.
"Another thing the Royal Show has always been very successful at is attracting overseas delegates. We now have a good chance to promote ourselves not only as a regional show, but a national show that attracts international attention and delegations. Over the years, we have people coming here who have wanted to look at ways of improving cattle in developing countries.
"These international breed societies and stock buyers will now be interested in coming to see the quality of stock that is here and that is something that we will definitely benefit from now that the Royal Show is not here.
"I think we can justifiably claim that we are the biggest in England."
Despite the economic downturn and the pressures that have mounted up on farmers in recent years, entries for the show are as high as ever – with record numbers coming forth for some of the categories.
Sheep entries are at an all-time high and waiting lists have been set up for people from all over the country wishing to exhibit cattle.
"We have had great entries in just about every section," says Mr Cowling said. "In some ways it's unfortunate that some people have not been able to get in, but in other ways it's a great compliment.
"There have been cattle entries from parts of the country which have never been represented before and thankfully Scotland is back in force after last year's disappointment with movement restrictions. It is wonderful that their great tradition of stock keeping is to return to the show.
"Similarly, we have large numbers of entries for sheep and horses, so it has all the makings of a really fantastic show."
Despite being in the midst of a recession, Mr Cowling sees now as being a promising period for farmers and wants the event next month to help capitalise on growing consumer awareness of what Britain's farmers contribute to society.
"The exchange rate has meant importing food has been seen as generally less attractive, so the rural economy is that bit more buoyant," he says. "Consumers have also become much more demanding. They want to know where their food comes from and they are much more keen to buy local and regional food rather than just what is out and out
the cheapest."
While the demise of the Royal Show has undoubtedly brought extra kudos to the Great Yorkshire Show, there is no celebratory mood or happiness at the historic event's expense among those at the Harrogate showground. Mr Cowling describes himself as "very disappointed" at the news.
When those farmers and landowners met in York in 1837, they could not have conceived of a world where food from other side of the world would be sold in such quantities domestically or that the show they were creating would grow to the size that it has.
But while more than 150 years have passed since that meeting, the goal of the show remains the same, to show how important Britain's farmers are to the country's prosperity and well-being.
"Most of the countryside you see in the UK is created and maintained by farmers who have been effective land managers over many many years," says Mr Cowling.
"The wider economy has to recognise that and it is up to us to make that happen. However, what we must remember is that we are first and foremost an agricultural show.
"We have a responsibility to portray agricultural and rural life as well as we can and to provide a shop window for it. We will have around 130,000 visitors this year, all of whom are consumers of some sort.
"We have the capacity to show things off and the publicity we get, both in the build up to the show and afterwards, is really helpful to the rural economy. We have the responsibility to represent ourselves to the best of our ability and show that the region is home to top quality food."
No doubt those men who met in the backroom of that smoky York pub so long ago would have expressed similar sentiments and would be very proud of what a prestigious institution the show they created has become – as indeed all of us in Yorkshire are.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
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Sunny spells
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