The Farmers Mart Aug-Sep 2019 - Issue 64

22 THE GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW AUG/SEP 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk Fantastic First Day of Great Yorkshire Show Thousands flocked to the first day of the Great Yorkshire Show – the biggest showcase in England for food, farming and the countryside. NEAR RECORD ATTENDANCE ST FOR 161 SHOW THIS year’s Great Yorkshire Show was one of the biggest in its 161- year history after 135,095 visitors poured through the gates over the three days. The figures are just behind the record set in 2006 when 135,111 attended. There were also record-break- ing entries across some of the sections, including cattle classes with 1,247 entries across beef and dairy, sheep with 2,597 entries, sheep shearing with 241 and Hives and Honey with 801 entries. Show Director Charles Mills said: “I was so proud to see each section looking great, the com- petitions were exhilarating, the entertainment, the visitors which spanned every generation – I think the show just keeps getting better and better, and the attend- ance numbers really reflect this.” Sporting Soprano Lizzie Jones rounded off the Show beautifully, singing in the Main Ring before the traditional President’s Handover which saw Tom Ramsden hand to Charlotte Bromet the new President of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society for the coming year. The prestigious Cock O’ The North showjumping was the final competition in the Main Ring which ended in a win for jubilant Wetherby rider Richard Howley, riding Chinook. Other highlights this year was the two-part TV series “Today at the Great Yorkshire Show” hosted by Anita Rani and Jules Hudson which broadcast the show into the homes of millions of TV viewers nationally on Channel 5. Show organisers were proud to host HRH The Duke of York. There were also visits from Farming Minister Robert Goodwill and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay. In the equine section was the prestigious Cuddy Supreme In Hand Championship Qualifier which was won by home-bred Dartmoor broodmare Springwater Anna with foal at foot, owned by Mr and Mrs PD Tyler of Thirsk and shown by daughter Katie Mickle. The Great Yorkshire Show Supreme Beef winner was a British Simmental from High Heath Farm, Hertfordshire. The Supreme Dairy winner was Jersey Saxown Precision Cash 89 owned by the Saxby family from Bawtry, South Yorkshire. The Supreme Sheep winner was a Dutch Spotted Sheep owned by Ali Jackson from Annan, Scotland. The 162nd Great Yorkshire Show will be held on Tuesday July 14th to Thursday July 16th 2020 THE first major livestock championship of the Show, the Supreme Beef, was won by a two-year-old Simmental bull, Heathbrow Important, owned by David Sapseed of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, while Reserve went to Lincoln Red bull Foulness Ultra owned by Robert Mawer of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. Judge Peter Donger said both animals were lovely examples of their breeds. Red Shepherdess Hannah Jackson opened the new Gen Z area to promote agricultural careers to teen- agers. The addition to the show has been created to showcase the opportunities available in the sector for young people and school leavers. A host of well-known faces took to the Kuoni Catwalk in the new-look GYS Fashion Pavilion. Five-time gold medal winning Paralympian, Hannah Cockroft, Red Shepherdess Hannah Jackson, Sporting Soprano Lizzie Jones, cricketing legend Ryan Sidebottom and the Yorkshire Vet, Peter Wright, received a huge welcome from a packed audience. A group of women from the Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association, some from the Windrush generation, were able to recon- nect with their farming roots when they visited the Show for the first time, meeting exhibitors in the National Longhorn Championship. The prestigious Doncaster Cup for the best in the Garden Show was won for the second year running by a display of carnivorous plants from Wacks Wicked Plants of Scampston. Garden Show steward Martin Fish said he could not remember the last time the Cup had been won in successive years by the same exhibitor. Winner Peter Walker, who is from Harrogate originally, said: “I am absolutely delighted to win again, if somewhat surprised! Reserve went to the Scarborough-based Yorkshire Pelargonium and Geranium Society at their very first Great Yorkshire Show. New technology was recognised in the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s White Rose What’s Next Award for Innovation which this year went to the JFC Agri Calf Isolation Unit. The unit allows farmers to treat sick calves in isolation and avoid cross contamina- tion. Presented with the Rosebowl by Jenny Penty, National Sales Manager Sue Taylor said they were delighted to have won. “Bringing a bio-security item to market involves lots of research and work. To have that recognised at such a prestigious show as the Great Yorkshire Show is wonderful.” There was a top award for the man behind one of the region’s most successful farm machinery suppliers. The Yorkshire Agricultural Society and Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) make an award each year to the individual who has made the most outstanding contribution to the Yorkshire rural community and the winner was Geoff Brown, Managing Director of Ripon Farm Services and a Council member of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The Farmers Mart Aug-Sep 2019 - Issue 64 | Page 22