The Great Yorkshire Show is a great opportunity for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to pursue and promote its charitable aims: to support and promote farming families and British agriculture, and inspire the next generation about all things farming, food and the countryside.
And the 165th Show, held on 9-12th July 2024, was no different. Our Charitable Activities team orchestrated unique opportunities for farmers and young people.
Here’s a round up of what our Farming Networks and Education teams got up to at this year’s Show.
A bigger and better Innovation Zone and GYS Innovation Awards
High-tech modern farming and the latest agricultural innovations were showcased at the 165th Great Yorkshire Show as the Innovation Zone returned for a second year, organised and hosted by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Farmer Scientist Network.
It featured the grand finale of the GYS Innovation Awards on the Tuesday. The Awards, sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology were expanded from one to four categories in their second year.
The overall winner was the Agri-Stride Vario dual-span diagonal slats from Wolfenden Concrete helps protect cattle from slips and falls – read more about this and all of the award winners, here.
The Innovation Zone, sponsored by OnPath Energy (formerly known as Banks Renewables), informed visitors about how farmland is carefully managed in new ways for food production, offering displays, demonstrations and daily ‘Tea & Tech’ and ‘Pie & Policy’ talks.
Panels of industry experts hosted talks on various topics, from cover cropping using the Cover Crop Guide and what the industry wants from the new government, to the adoption of robotic technology, biomass and biofibre markets, and the future of farm fuels.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society CEO Allister Nixon also took to the Innovation Zone stage (pictured below) to talk about ‘Building a resilient Showground’, alongside GSC Grays‘ James Bush and Fera Science’s Paul Brown.
The Innovation Zone also had displays of cover crops, catch crops and biomass crops and two wildflower meadows at different stages of growth. Specialist rural university Harper Adams showcased a drone capable of seeding and spraying in partnership with Autospray Systems.
Russells farm machinery displayed their latest methane-powered tractor and “while you wait” soil testing proved popular with farmers who got insighted into how best to manage their own particular land.
High profile talks
Following the General Election, just five days before the Show opened, it was a great feat to secure the attendance of the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed OBE MP and Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner, for their first public engagements in office – pictured below with then Show Director Charles Mills.
They met farmers and farming bodies such as the NFU, CLA, RABI, as well as our own Future Farmers of Yorkshire where they were joined for a roundtable chat by Defra’s Director of Farming and Countryside Programme Janet Hughes. It was a key opportunity to highlight pressing agricultural matters.
An excellent panel of speakers – Joe Stanley (pictured below), Prof John Gilliland, Molly Biddell and Jodie Bolland – addressed the topic of ‘Changing the Farming Narrative: Delivering more than just food’ at the Future Farmers Breakfast Meeting, sponsored by Armstrong Watson – read the full report here and Future Farmer Isobel Eames’ take on the event here.
Elsewhere at the Show, the newly elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith (pictured below visiting the Innovation Zone) and the leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Councillor Anne Handley, were hosted on tours of the Showground organised by our Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network.
Their visits provided valuable opportunities to hear the views of local farmers and food producers, face-to-face.
Networking, scholars, the next generation and a cultural exchange
There was a new gathering of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Women In Farming Network in the Innovation Zone on the Wednesday afternoon where members came together for an Innovation Hour.
Speakers included NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos, and it was followed by a summer social for members – a great opportunity for catch ups and making new connections.
Meanwhile, young farmers taking YAS’s new Goodall Agri-Development Pathway spent a day at the Show to enhance their personal and professional development by meeting industry stakeholders.
Future Farmers teamed up with Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust to host an informal reception featuring local Nuffield Scholars Tom Scrope and YAS Council’s Neil Eastham, and Future Farmers Chair Nick Grayson.
Future Farmers also held a reception for mentors and mentees on its Mentorship Scheme which is now accepting new applications, until 16th August 2024 – find out more here.
YAS Council’s Fay Grace and Philip Rowbottom, and Yorkshire Rural Support Network Coordinator Fiona Macdonald, helped host a group of Windrush generation women and ladies from the Roshni Asian Women’s Resource Centre for a cultural exchange trip, organised with Maxwell Ayamba from the Sheffield Environmental Movement charity.
Inspiring the next generation
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s School Veg Box Competition, kindly sponsored by Mr Fothergill’s, Yorganics and Pink Pig, culminated in a grand finale at the Show on the Wednesday when the 12 finalists were judged by horticulturalists from RHS Harlow Carr.
Each year, the Society invites primary schools across Yorkshire to take part in this grow-your-own competition, with children starting their growing projects with a flat pack box and seeds.
The results are lush and colourful veg boxes and growing diaries to chart the children’s learning journeys.
This year the growing theme was ‘Bee Kind’, encouraging children to consider the environment, our pollinators and each other whilst producing food for their school.
The overall winners of the competition this year were from White Laith Primary School, Whinmoor, Leeds (pictured above).
Their bright colourful designs and rain harvesting systems for this year’s bee theme impressed the judges – read our full wrap up of the competition winners here.
The finalists’ veg boxes were displayed in the Show’s Discovery Zone, where all the free, fun and hands-on activities to entertain and educate families and children about farming, food and the countryside were subsidised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is grateful to McDonald’s for kindly funding transport to enable schoolchildren from deprived areas to attend the Show and benefit from its educational experiences.
Our Farming Networks help ensure that the agricultural community is stronger, fitter and better equipped for the future.
We are passionate about educating future generations about all aspects of farming, food and the countryside.
