This is the latest update on the activities of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society from CEO Allister Nixon.
How are your new year’s resolutions going? Resolving to do something is easily said but only by then acting on our sentiments do we embrace these personal commitments.
The start of the year has seen the Yorkshire Agricultural Society take action after a detailed 18-month design and consultation process.
The result is a major rebrand of the Society, its family of businesses on the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and the Great Yorkshire Show.
It is a refresh that nods to the tradition and heritage of the Society, whilst giving a contemporary feel and more synergy between all parts of the commercial businesses and events at the Showground, and it is so much more than an aesthetic makeover.
By better connecting the Society with the Showground’s businesses, the story of our year-round work as a registered charity is told with greater clarity and authority.
This makes the Showground an even more attractive place to hold a huge variety of events, and in turn, positions the Society to bolster its work to deliver activities and initiatives that benefit farmers and their families.
All profits from the newly renamed The Great Yorkshire Events Centre (formerly known as two separate venues, Pavilions of Harrogate and Yorkshire Event Centre), Fodder farm shop and café and Harrogate Caravan Park, fund the Society’s work; activities that support professional development and wellbeing of those in farming, encourage innovation in the industry and educate new generations about where their food comes from.
Highlights at the start of 2025
It has been a busy start to the year.
Teaming up with Ripon Cathedral to host its Plough Sunday Service as we blessed farming was a grounding experience that emphasised how we should all take enormous pride in the work of farmers, as food producers and custodians of our landscapes.
The Society’s Future Farmers of Yorkshire network was represented at the Oxford farming conferences this month by four enthusiastic younger farmers who had been awarded bursary places, while our Yorkshire Farmers Club programme of industry visits, this time to Drax Power Station, brought together those in agriculture aged 50 and over as part of the Society’s ongoing efforts to tackle social isolation.
Those just getting started in their careers stand to benefit from a new funding partnership between the Society’s Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network and Askham Bryan College.
Up to 80 per cent off tractor driving, pesticide application and forklift handling training is being offered to students and members of Young Farmers’ Clubs living and working in North Yorkshire.
More to come
Next, the Society is attending the Yorkshire Agricultural Machinery Show (YAMS) at York Auction Centre on Wednesday 5th February.
Please do call by our stand (MK308) to find out more about our work.
Then, the Society’s Farmer Scientist Network hosts Agri-Sense at The Great Yorkshire Events Centre on Tuesday 25th February for Agri-Tech Expo North.
This free event showcases the latest precision agriculture technology. Click on the image below to register your place.
Also in February, the Society’s next free training course for school staff is all about ‘Starting a School Vegetable Garden’, and places are available on a farming-focused mental health awareness course at Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart on Thursday 27th February.
Whilst the Society is apolitical, it will be holding a series of events in the early part of the year looking at practical approaches to adapting to changes announced in the Government’s Autumn Budget.
These events are being planned however the Society is awaiting the full technical details behind the announcements to ensure that the advice given at these events is accurate, up to date and best-equips farmers to plan effectively.
There is lots more to come from the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. Updates to follow in future updates from me, on our social media channels and via our digital newsletters – sign up to our mailing list using the form at the bottom of this webpage.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Find out more about what we do, year-round, to support the farming community
Farmer Scientist Network – working with the crop and livestock sectors to find new ways in which science and technology can find solutions and underpin innovation in agriculture.
Future Farmers of Yorkshire – inspires and develops the very best to lead Yorkshire’s agricultural industries to a thriving future.
Goodall Agri-Development Pathway – a fully-funded training programme to support the development of farming’s next generation.
Grants and Scholarships – grants are available to individuals and organisations of the Yorkshire farming network and community as part of our charitable objectives, and since 1980, we have sponsored Nuffield Farming Scholarships.
Women In Farming Network – provides opportunities for women to learn from each other, build contacts and offer support to their fellow members.
Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network – builds relationships which can collectively champion and influence at a local, regional, and national level.
Yorkshire Rural Support Network – promotes and provides sources of help – whether practical, financial, medical or emotional – to those who live in farming and rural communities.
