IT may have come into being the year Victoria took the throne, but in Yorkshire one organisation still reigns supreme today.

This is the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, now in its 166th year, the force behind the Great Yorkshire Show and so much more in the region.

The society is now focusing on the future, joining forces with the Evening Press to spearhead Eat Local, our deter-mined drive to tell people about the very best our region can produce.

It has donated a trophy for our ultimate Eat Local food champion, with all the winners being announced at the Great Yorkshire Show this July.

Chief Executive Nigel Pulling said: "We are delighted to support the Eat Local campaign.

"Supporting local producers is an important issue for the society - one of the primary objectives of our flagship event, The Great Yorkshire Show is to give producers an opportunity to showcase their products.

"We are delighted to be involved in the Evening Press campaign."

The society was originally founded to advance, promote and improve the region's agriculture, from forests to fish, and cattle to crafts, all vitally important facets of the society's work today.

As part of this advancing industry, the society has a large role encouraging agricultural education and is a registered charity.

Each year the society donates around £150,000 to agriculture and countryside related organisations.

It most recently provided a car for the northern representative of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

This donation represents part of the society's work to help farmers deal with the difficulties of modern farming.

It will help representative Chris Andrews to cover her huge area of responsibility, visiting those in the farming community who need support.

The donation represents a practical way the society enabled her to operate more effectively from her base near Thirsk.

The society is also supporting the Yorkshire Rural Initiative helping organisations trying to combat the personal problems faced by those in agriculture.

This year sees the society launch a new event, Countryside Live! providing a new forum for producers, retailers and consumers to connect.

The event will pick up on the society's other main attraction, the Yorkshire Show, with competitive classes for cattle, sheep and poultry showing.

In order to broaden appeal to a wider audience, the show will also incorporate popular displays such as demonstrations, an educational area and a cookery theatre.

The event incorporates the Northern Counties Livestock Show, an annual event from north of the region, and is expected to attract thousands of visitors from all over the region.

Organiser Pam Wills said: "We are taking bookings for it already, and the plan is coming together all the time.

"Hopefully it will be very successful, but it will also provide us a great foundation to build on."

Countryside Live! makes its debut at the Great Yorkshire Show Ground on Satur-day 25 and Sunday 26 October.