Great Yorkshire Show: Day one sees a celebration of farmers and a political platform for change

Car park signs popped up at the side of roads, one way systems took effect and hundreds of volunteers in white show coats suddenly appeared to welcome thousands of visitors to what is the highlight in Yorkshire’s country calendar.

By the time the doors opened on day one of the 164th Great Yorkshire Show yesterday, traffic was at a standstill and there were queues at the gates as 35,000 ticket holders made their way into the region’s, if not the country’s, biggest showcase and celebration of British farming and country life.

The show has been a sell out for more than a week and even the Royal family were on the guest list with the Duke of Gloucester making his first visit to the show.

Other high profile visitors on the first day – which saw heavy downpours of rain in the afternoon – included Adam Henson, himself a farmer and presenter on Countryfile, TV vet Matt Smith and farming brothers and stars of Springtime on the Farm, The Yorkshire Vet and The Great Yorkshire Show television programme Rob and David Nicholson.

Politics was also being discussed over the breakfast table, quite literally, as the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the NFU held debates over farming and hospitality working together, land use and the challenges that come with it and the re-introduction of priority species.

The Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Mark Spencer also attended the show to give an update on new government plans for regulation of the dairy sector which will lead to fairer prices being paid to farmers.

It is this kind of platform that - as well as the showing of livestock, food produce, equestrian classes and lifestyle events – is what the show should be generating, said Charles Mills, director of The Great Yorkshire Show.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “We have got DEFRA here and the political debates are very good to get farmers to come to these things.

"Our farming community would expect us to do this now. If we want to give explanations to the public and farmers alike, we need to attract people like this otherwise we are not doing our job very well.

"Things change every day and that is the difficulty of being a farmer, you plan what you are doing and then somebody changes their mind and that makes it really challenging.”

Mr Mills stressed how important the show was to the farming community and the small, independent farmers as a social occasion and said it was also one of his favourite aspects of the show – that he has been attending for all of his 67 years.

He added: “The show is not just about the countryside - it is a great social occasion and we should not forget that agriculture has become a more isolated industry.

“We have got organisations called Future Farmers as well but generally it is a great place to socialise and you see the people you see just once a year.”

Once again the show will run over four days this year, instead of three as in previous years which is proving a popular decision with visitors.

Anne Baker is a carer from York who has been coming for 10 years.

She said: “Four days is better, I’m sure it's better. I think it was a lot busier over three days and I don’t think it's quite as busy (over four).

“I like to watch a bit of everything really. There's that much to see. I like to watch the horses, it's nice to watch all the animals. I’ll be coming today and Friday, there's always more stuff to see.”

Alec and Rita Kendall travelled from Warthill, east of York.

Mr Kendall is a semi-retired farmer, and has been coming since 1940 and his wife for around 60 years. Both are honorary members of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

She said: “We used to come when it was mainly agricultural, but now we’re both honorary members so we just like to come and have a look around. We’ve done it for years now, it's great to have a wander.

"I think there's a lot more interest now, so it allows more people to come.”

Today will see panel discussions on building a resilient farming business and the development of a countywide visitor economy with the newly formed North Yorkshire Council.

The Tye Trophy will highlight some of the best farms in the North of England for commercial and environmental management success and presentations will be made for the Cheese Show award while the Rare Breeds Survival Trust celebrates its 50th anniversary.