A ROYAL visit, two national cattle championships, two new sheep breeds and a brand new Sheep to Chic fashion show were among the highlights when the sell-out Great Yorkshire Show opened to visitors this week.
The Duke of Gloucester was taken on a tour of the show by the director Charles Mills and HM Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Mrs Jo Ropner, seeing horses, cattle and the latest in farming technology.
Mr Mills said: “We have had a wonderful start to the show, with a visit by HRH the Duke of Gloucester. Some of the top industry leaders have here been looking at a variety of issues for both agriculture and the wider the rural sector and we have seen the first awards for some amazing winners in the show rings.”
The day brought top level industry leaders to the Great Yorkshire Showground with MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, led by the chair of the cross-party committee, Sir Robert Goodwill MP, launching a new report on the merits and risks involved in species reintroductions in England. Sir Robert said it was vital that politicians listed to scientists and stakeholders on any potential issues.
TV presenter Adam Henson chaired a discussion on the challenges and opportunities for the farming sector with Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union, Mark Spencer, minister of state in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Sir Robert Goodwill.
The first competitive trophy of the show, the Doncaster Cup for the best exhibit in the Garden Show went to the Yorkshire Pelargonium and Geranium Society, based in North Yorkshire. Roger Burnett of the Society said: “It is a privilege and a pleasure to be at the Great Yorkshire Show and the standard is very high this year. We were delighted to receive the Doncaster Cup.”
The President’s Award, of the Curzon-Howe Rosebowl went to Horticap, while there was also an award for best nursery for first-time exhibitor Cliff Bank Nursery.
The day also saw the ribbons presented in two of the three national cattle championships being held at the show, with breed champion in the Beef Shorthorns going to L Trueman’s Roundhill Millie, while the Longhorn title went to PA Stanley’s Blackbrook Bluebell.
The Ridden Hunter title, the first of the major equine prizes, went to Jill Day’s middleweight seven-year-old gelding, Greenhall Treasure Island, ridden by Robert Walker.
Down in the sheep rings, two new breeds, the Badgerface Texel and Castlemilk Moorits, were competing, while next door the shearing stage saw the new Sheep to Chic Fashion Show, featuring the best of British wool garments worn by professional models and volunteers from the rural community.
The Great Yorkshire Show has become a four-day event after a raft of changes were implemented at the 2021 show due to Covid 19 regulations.
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