It’s showtime…..

There was book I once never bothered to read called `God is an Englishman’ by R.F.Delderfield…who also wrote `To Serve Them All My Days’, well actually the almighty is a Yorkshire man… or woman.

Last year’s Royal Show at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire was a washout…. So much so that the final day had to be cancelled to the public because the conditions under foot were just too dangerous and boggy.

By contrast the Great Yorkshire, no need for royalty in the name here….Great will suffice, was bathed in sunshine. This year the Royal was hit by reduced numbers of animals and slightly disappointing visitor numbers. The first day of the Great Yorkshire, celebrating its hundred and fiftieth birthday ended with throngs of people, and bathed in glorious evening sunshine, even if the weather was a bit iffy earlier in the day. I suspect this might have been instigated by the posse of bishops I passed as I was walking into the showground.

Farming is very much an isolated business. Long, and physically demanding days spent either trying to cox machinery back to life or attempting the same with sheep. Very few forage harvesters have an overwhelming desire to turn their toes up. With the decline of auction marts, and indeed livestock farming, there's little opportunity to socialise. Trade shows, are one way of getting to meet those of a like mind, but the highlight of the short summer hiatus before the harvest begins is the traditional agricultural show. They're also an opportunity to gain the approval, and admiration of your peers.

At the heart of every show there is the competition, whether it's the big national shows like the Royal, or the regional ones like the Great Yorkshire and the East of England. These competitions, the classes, the best in show matter. The animals entered are gliding along in the fast lane of the gene pool. This is the stock that all the most dedicated farmers want for their blood lines. A Win at the Royal, or the Great Yorkshire can be worth thousands of pounds, not in the relatively small prize money on offer, but in the resale value in the semen or the embryos of the cattle, or the sale of the sheep or pigs themselves.

Then there's the chance to press the flesh. The big movers and shakers in farming must be seen at the shows. NFU President Ptere Kendall was one of the visitors on the first day of the Great Yorkshire, Hilary Benn will be there in the Thursday, as will be the Queen... no doubt he'll get much more of an ear-bending about badgers than she will.

NFU President Peter Kendall at the 2008 Great Yorkshire Show

It's the chance for those who lobby on behalf of farming to test the water, to get a feel of what the countryside is really thinking. Some farmers prefer to avoid the general shows, prefering instead the specialist trade events, but for others events like the Great Yorkshire are a vital social lifeline which keeps them just the right side of the line between hope and despair.