The Great Yorkshire Show showcases the best of rural Britain - Sarah Todd

Farming and rural communities don’t, as a rule, like change. As the old saying goes, they like what they know and know what they like. So what a relief to, like an old pair of wellies, pull on the familiar format of the now four-day show.

Even getting stuck in traffic won’t seem, this year, so bad. Back to normal. In a topsy turvy world, where Downing Street has had a revolving door with five different Prime Ministers in just over as many years, how marvellous that here in Yorkshire we have something so special that carries on regardless.

After nine years at the helm this 165th Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) will be the last as show director for York farmer Charles Mills.

It was 68 years ago, while he was still in a pram, that Charles first visited the show.

Mr Mills says the wet year of 2012, when the last two days of the GYS were cancelled, stands out as a moment when the “real meaning” of the show became clearer than ever before.

“Back then I was joint chief cattle steward,” he explains. “We got approval for the cattle competitions to still go ahead and be run on the concrete - the showground was a complete mud bath. When we announced this people hugged, kissed and cried. It was so moving to see what being able to show meant to exhibitors; they really do spend years getting their animals to perfection for these classes. The poignancy of the moment, of what it meant when those classes went ahead, will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Charles, who has become a recognisable figure in his bowler hat greeting Royalty and other special guests over the years, ponders whether those from outside the farming community realise what a much-needed tonic the summer’s shows are for farmers.

“So many country people plan a visit to the show as their annual holiday,” he said. “That social element, of meeting up with old friends, is priceless.”

However busy his show week diary, Charles will find time to go back to his roots on the cattle lines and welcome an international party of Ayrshire cattle breeders who are visiting the GYS as part of their world federation conference.

Around 100 delegates from countries including Kenya, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and America will descend on the show as part of an 18-day tour to share best practice with UK farmers.

This year also marks a milestone for poultry breeders, with the return of classes after complications caused by avian flu.

BBC Presenters Helen Skelton, Adam Henson, Peter Wright from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet and Rob and Dave Nicholson, of Cannon Hall Farm, will be bringing a perfectly rural dusting of celebrity to the GYS Stage.

Countryside displays and demonstrations, plus cookery, fashion, food and drink can all be found, along with all the equine and livestock classes.

Chewing the cud has always been a feature of agricultural shows and there can be no pretending that farming post-election won’t be the hot potato of next week’s gathering. As a quick aside, talking of spuds, a Grimme V470 Platinum potato harvester measuring in at 13 metres long will have pride of place on the Presidents Lawn in tribute to this year's Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) President Martin Cockerill, whose farming business has grown into one of the country’s leading suppliers and packers of potatoes.

But back to chewing the cud. From food security planning to the new government’s approaches to policy, taxation and funding, along with agritech innovation, labour shortages, and food pricing will all come under the spotlight in a series of showground debates and discussions.

It’s important not to forget that an awful lot of business is done at the show, with 1,100 trade stands.

Geoff Brown MBE, co-founder of agricultural machinery business Ripon Farm Services, is president elect of the YAS. Like Charles Mills he has been attending the show since he was a nipper and selling tractors and machinery here for as long as he can remember.

“There is no substitute for seeing something, like a tractor, close up,” believes Geoff. “But more than that, despite all the business that’s now done online and over the phone, there is still something about shaking hands with a salesperson and having a chat with them.”

Each family has their own routines; we wouldn’t miss the cattle parade or the Cock o’ the North showjumping competition.

A perennial stop off is the Young Farmers’ Club stand; extra special this year with the Yorkshire federation celebrating its 50th anniversary year. In common with all country shows, be they great in size like the GYS or small, this rural youth movement couldn’t run without volunteers. Those who give their time are the thread that holds the patchwork of rural communities together. Yes, thinking aloud, far more important than any politician.

Sarah Todd is a journalist specialising in farming and country life. Read her regular column in Wednesday’s edition of The Yorkshire Post.