Wealden Times | WT264 | May 2024 | Love Your Home Supplement inside

Jane Howard explains how
agricultural shows came
to be and just how much
preparation is needed
in order to compete
The Heathfield Show at the end
of May will be the first outing for
the Coopers Farm team, in a busy
summer that ends up with the Edenbridge and
Oxted show on August bank holiday. It’s the time
of year when jams and preserves get competitive,
beer tents are buzzing, ferrets race furiously and farmers
show and parade some of the country’s finest livestock.
Agricultural shows are part of our rural heritage and
date back to the 18th century when they played an
important educational role. At that time, as a result of
the Industrial Revolution, the population of Britain
boomed and farming had to change swiftly to keep the
nation fed. A network of county agricultural societies
promoted new scientific methods of stock breeding and
crop management, but not enough farmers took any
notice. So the idea of the agricultural
show was born, where all the advances
would be displayed and explained,
the superiority of the new methods
demonstrated and – to encourage good
practice – prizes would be awarded for
the best stock and produce. The shows
were high-minded and serious. If people
wanted fun, they could go to the circus.
These days for the many visitors
who flock to the shows each year they
are absolutely about having fun, but
it’s also a great chance to get up close
to all our farm animals and learn more about them.
Showing cattle is a bit like competing at Crufts.
In the first instance there are the individual breed
classes with categories for young and mature bulls,
and cows and heifers (females that haven’t yet had a
calf) resulting in a male and female champion for each
breed. These breed champions then compete with
each other to get the supreme champion of the show,
but to get there – indeed even to turn up – means
a great deal of hard work, started months before.
Around Christmas I start picking out the potential
Showing cattle is a
bit like competing at
Crufts... to get there
– indeed even to turn
up – means a great
deal of hard work,
started months before
contenders for the Coopers team. What am I looking
for? The easiest explanation is a topline (backbone)
that is parallel to the bottom line (belly) and plenty
of width. Think about a box of After Eights with
a leg in each corner and you won’t be far out.
By about March the training begins, but your average
cow sees no reason to put on a halter and be walked
round on the end of a rope, why would they? It always
helps if there are cattle in the team who
have been round the circuit the year
before to lend a relaxed 'been there,
done that' vibe to proceedings. Even
so, first steps are always unpredictable.
Having tied them up to get used to
the halter you then have to untie them
and encourage forward movement.
At this point one of two things can
happen. Some set off round the yard
rodeo style, bucking and bronking with
yours truly holding on to the end of
the rope, trying to calm things down.
These are the easy ones as they soon settle down.
Far trickier are those that take the “nah, no thank
you” approach and refuse to budge. Much harder to
do anything about half a ton of uncooperative beef!
But somehow we always seem to get them there,
though it must be said, like children there are
always the little angels that rise to the occasion
and behave impeccably... and those that don’t.
So here’s hoping this year's lot will oblige
and it will be a sunny, easy, enjoyable show
season. Love to meet some of you there.
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