Great Yorkshire Show Day Two: Complete coverage with photo gallery and new video jukebox

In the sheep section, David Eglin was able to claim he had helped give fellow farmers their best news of last year – a rise in wool prices.

Mr Eglin, from Coventry, is involved in the wool coffins business set up by Yorkshire textiles maker AW Hainsworth.

Last year, it was just an idea. Now the coffins are selling well, here and in the USA, for about 600 each. The company lists its distributors online at www.naturallegacy.co.uk

Hainsworth's, of Stanningley, near Leeds, has kept seven generations of the family employed by finding niches such as billiard-table cloth and firemen's and guardsmen's uniforms. Today's boss, Adam Hainsworth, saw the potential in eco-conscious farewells and Mr Eglin came in to supply wool suitable for felting used in the semi-rigid coffins and ashes containers – from Dorset and Southdown sheep.

Hainsworths were paying 64p a kilo for the wool a year ago, through auction. Now it is 120p, although not all of that goes to the farmers, as the fine wool involved has always fetched a premium but the rise has been reflected across the wool market.

Mr Eglin said: "All sorts of ideas have contributed. This business has sold three tonnes of wool in nine months. Some girls are making it into packing for deep-freeze products."