‘Compelling case’ for One Yorkshire
True value of Countryside Live
The case for a Yorkshire-wide devolution settlement has been described as “very compelling” by Josh Hardie, deputy director general of the CBI, who told The Yorkshire Post that a recent study outlining how One Yorkshire would add billions to the region’s economy, had a great deal of merit.
IT IS the agricultural show season’s last hurrah and a useful shop window for livestock as butchers get set for a seasonal surge of customers.
Countryside Live at the Great Yorkshire Showground takes place over both days this weekend and it is a chance for visitors to marvel at both topquality animals and the food that is produced at the other end of the chain.
Sheep and cattle began to arrive yesterday for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s annual autumn showpiece in Harrogate as exhibitors and organisers prepared to welcome around 15,000 visitors over two days.
As the fat stock sales season begins in the livestock auction marts in the run up to Christmas, the animals in the ring will be presented by farmers at Countryside Live to vie for titles that could help boost the prices they command this winter.
Meanwhile, at the event’s cookery theatre a line up of experienced chefs from across the region will demonstrate the culinary value of farming produce, using locally reared meat and regionally grown greens to further capture visitors’ imagination about the versatility and quality of food sourced from Yorkshire farms.
Among the 2,000 and more animals at the showground will also be pigs, poultry, pigeons and rabbits, and a series of equestrian contests puts horses and their riders through their paces.
Writing about the event in today’s Country Week, Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, said: “While keeping agriculture at its heart, there’s also plenty of entertainment for the family with exciting displays and special guests.”
Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess, guest stars at the show today, followed by Yorkshire
Vet co-star Peter Wright tomorrow. For full coverage, see The
Yorkshire Post on Monday and online over the weekend.
IF MINISTERS want to see the rural economy in action, and why there’s so much frustration when Whitehallbased politicians and officials ignore this issue, then they should visit this weekend’s Countryside Live event in Harrogate.
A relatively recent spinoff from the Great Yorkshire Show which remains the country’s pre-eminent agricultural show, this celebration of food and farming is continuing to grow in stature and is now an important ‘shop window’ for all those who live and work in this important sector.
Yet, with Brexit posing as many challenges for agriculture as the rest of the country, it’s never been more important for consumers to support local producers and to remind national policy-makers of the opportunities that could exist if they worked as hard for rural Britain as our farmers do in all weathers – and all political climates.