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

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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 <strong>May</strong> 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. <strong>Love</strong> to meet some of you there. priceless-magazines.com 122
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