Great Yorkshire Show expands focus on technology and research to help under pressure farmers
It may have a heritage dating back 188 years and be renowned for its championing of agricultural and rural traditions, but the forthcoming edition of the Great Yorkshire Show will see fresh focus on farming's future.
The four-day event will see an Innovation Village launched at the 340-acre Harrogate showground as part of a concerted drive by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to support farmers to see opportunities and navigate uncertainty.
The move comes at a time of multiple pressures for the sector, which as of December employed some 13,000 people in the region, including the impact of a drier than average April and elevated fuel and fertiliser prices.
It also follows a study of its 12,500 members by the society last year finding they wanted its charitable activities targeted on areas such as knowledge sharing and career development.
At a launch event for the July 14 to 17 event yesterday, the society’s chief executive Allister Nixon revealed it would feature an Agri-Innovation Village, a significant expansion to the established Innovation Zone, to highlight the latest agricultural research and technology "to move the industry forward”.
He said: “We want to promote how much the industry is moving forward. I think there’s still a myth that farming is about getting on a tractor and plouging up and down a field. It is moving a long way from there and agriculture needs to attract the best talent. We are trying to show agriculture is a very innovative place and at the juncture of a lot of pressures coming on society at the moment.”
Among those attending the launch was South Yorkshire beef farmer and Youtuber Joe Seels, who will be producing behind the scenes insights with those competing at the show, said he was looking forward to the high-tech machinery on display.
He said: “On the President’s Lawn there will be the world’s biggest combine on display, the 775hp new Holland CR11, which can harvest over 100 tonnes an hour and costs over £500,000.”
However, the appointment of this year’s show President, Nick Fox Lane, who owns Bramham Park, near Wetherby, represents a nod to the show’s heritage, with both his father and grandfather having previously been handed the prestigious role, as well as his ancestor George Lane Fox, who attended the meeting which established the show in 1837.
Baildon dairy farmer Rachel Coates said she was excited about her second year at the helm as the show’s director as well as the array of technology which will be on display, such as a hydrogen-powered tractor.
She said: "We have the Innovation Village as innovative farming is growing with lots more coming through and it’s how we as farmers become the solution to problems in the world like climate change and become more resilient.
"It’s an area where we can really excel by showcasing these things. You can read about it, but until you see it you don’t really realise."