Proudly at the heart of Yorkshire’s farming, food and countryside; now and forever.
TUESDAY 8 JULY – FRIDAY 11 JULY 2025
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is delighted to announce that the dates for the 2025 Great Yorkshire Show are Tuesday 8 July to Friday 11 July.
As one of the largest agricultural events in the country, the Great Yorkshire Show will continue to be held over four days, with capacity capped at 35,000 people a day.
Tickets will continue to be sold in advance only and visitors are encouraged to buy theirs sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
As part of our farmer ticket initative to give farmers greater access to the Show, online tickets make purchasing farmer tickets more accessible and continue to provide further flexibility to attend the Show.
Membership numbers will continue to be limited and a renewal reminder will be sent with the next newsletter in January 2025.
Tickets and membership will go on sale in November 2024.
GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW
The 165th Great Yorkshire Show was a fantastic sell-out success, showcasing farming, food and the countryside to visitors from all corners of the UK.
Following the General Election, just days before the Show, it was a great feat to secure a visit from the new Defra Secretary of State, Steve Reed OBE MP and Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner. During their first public engagements in office, they met farmers and farming bodies, including our own Future Farmers of Yorkshire.
There were also opportunities for farmers to engage with MPs and Defra’s Director of Farming and Countryside Programme Janet Hughes, while the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, made his first visit, alongside the Lord-Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Jo Ropner.
New additions included a craft beer bar, a Battle of the Butchers, Theakston’s Great Yorkshire Inn, equine classes for Ridden Heavy Horses and Rescue Equine, and Main Ring performances from Forever Tenors and the Paul Hannam Quad Bike Stunt Show.
The Show hosted the World Ayrshire Federation Annual Conference for the first time, featuring around 100 farmers from countries including Kenya, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and America.
The People’s Choice competition returned for the first time since 2019 with the classes extended beyond cattle to include goats and pigs. Exhibitors sported fancy dress and Show visitors were cast as judges.
There were more than 12,000 entries across the Show’s 21 sections. Amongst the winners was Johnny Adamson’s senior cow Ayrshire Swaites Bracken which clinched the Supreme Dairy Championship, while the Supreme Beef Champion title went to British Limousin heifer Maraiscole Tangerine, owned by Lanarkshire’s Ian Nimmo.
The Blythewood Dairy Pairs title went to a pair of Jersey heifers, Guillyhill Webcam Daisy, owned by Messrs TAML Jackson and shown by Katie Jackson, and Messrs RAM Scott’s Nethervalley Oliver Regina shown by Gregor Brown. In the Blythewood Beef Pairs, the Continental pair winners were Sophie Harvey and Stewart Bett with their British Limousins, while the Native winners were Jennifer Hyslop and Carol Rettie with their Beef Shorthorns.
TUESDAY 9 - FRIDAY 12 JULY 2024
Supreme Champion Goat was Waiverlane Stiorra, a British Alpine owned and bred by Joan Bell, Northallerton. The Overall Supreme Sheep Champion trophy went to a homebred Kerry Hill shearling ewe, Whitfield Double Diamond, from Chris Adamson’s Whitfield flock. Chris, from Littleborough, Lancashire, beat off competition from more than 3,000 sheep entries to claim the top prize.
Ali Jackson’s shearling Suffolk gimmer was named Supreme MV Champion and the Champion Wool Fleece title went to G Horner, Whitby. At the Sheep Shearing stage, the Open Shearing Champion was New Zealand Shearer Jack Fagan and Yorkshire Shearer of the Year was Anthony Rooke.
The Supreme Pig Championship was won by Duroc gilt Hazeway Havnbjerg 6 owned by Hayley Loveless of Dorset. The Collins family made it back-to-back wins in the prestigious BPA Pig Of The Year Final, claiming victory with a Welsh pig.
This year also saw the return of the Poultry classes and the Supreme Champion title went to a Blue Leghorn bantam exhibited by Joe and Paul Heeley from Drighlington.
The Supreme Champion Waterfowl was a homebred Cayuga duck shown by Robin Cornforth of Easingwold. Richard Henderson of Malton won Supreme Champion Pigeon with a British Nun, and in Hives and Honey, Sally Fairweather from Sheriff Hutton won the Supreme Champion title with her beeswax block.
Top showjumping class, the Ripon Select Foods Cock O’ the North, gave the packed Main Ring another nailbiting finish. Local hero, Richard Howley from Wetherby won with HK Horses’ Zodiac Du Buisson Z with treble clears.
The Price In Hand Championship saw the culmination of the equine showing classes, with Highland mare Perburn Annabella, owned by Mike and Catherine Taylor of Lancashire declared as Supreme Champion.
The Supreme Champion Cheese was Shepherds Purse’s Organic Yorkshire Blue, and the Supreme Champion Dairy title went to Ryeburn of Helmsley for its Mango Ripple ice cream.
Over in The Forge, the Shoeing Champion was George Rogerson, Basingstoke. In Forestry, Patrick McCoy took the Pole Climbing Novice title, racing to the top in 17.08 seconds, while the Professional Winner was James Oakley, who completed the climb in just 13.13 seconds.
GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW 2024
APPRECIATION FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS
The Great Yorkshire Show is a huge undertaking and our volunteer stewards and supporters are key to the Show’s success.
As well as nearly 400 stewards, many others provide support in all sorts of ways. It truly is a team effort, with almost 8,000 people involved in delivering the Show and everyone who contributes plays an important role.
We celebrate and show our appreciation for these contributions with the YAS Awards, which are presented to retiring stewards, committee members and other dedicated supporters for their outstanding contributions to both the Show and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Our sincere thanks to this year’s YAS Awards recipients:
Michael Warren, Sandra Jacklin, Nigel and Kathleen Cox, David Wallace, Martin Glynn, Simon and Wendy Maslin, Amy Beckett, Peter Lewis, Michael Ellenor, Dr Rebecca Prest, Stephen Dennis, John Simpson, Andy Simpson and Paul Dennis.
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society and the Royal Agriculture Benevolent Institution (RABI) award to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the farming and rural community in Yorkshire over many years was awarded to William Lamb, a RABI committee for over 30 years and founder member of the East Yorkshire RABI committee.
FARMING CHARITY BENEFITS FROM CHEESE AUCTION
Cheese lovers at the Great Yorkshire Show raised £8,530 for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) charity which works tirelessly to support farming people through practical, financial and emotional assistance.
An auction of cheeses is held in the Cheese and Dairy Section every year on the Thursday of the Show, giving visitors the chance to bid for a round of their favourite cheese once judging is over.
Sally Conner, RABI North East Regional Manager, said: “The donation that the Cheese and Dairy Section at the Great Yorkshire Show has made will make a huge difference to families in Yorkshire. A huge thanks to all concerned, we really appreciate the donation.”
The Cheese and Dairy Section showcased the best of British produce at the Great Yorkshire Show. Two memorial trophies were presented to mark the massive contributions made to the Show by the late David Hartley and Judy Bell MBE. David from Wensleydale Creamery was influential in the Cheese and Dairy Show being established at the Show. Judy was Chief Cheese and Dairy Steward for many years and a passionate supporter of the Show and the industry.
The Judy Bell Supreme Champion Cheese title went to Shepherds Purse for its Organic Yorkshire Blue, and the David Hartley Supreme Champion Dairy Product Trophy went to Ryeburn of Helmsley for its Mango Ripple ice cream.
TUESDAY 9 - FRIDAY 12 JULY
CONNECTING THE INDUSTRY AND CHAMPIONING FARMING
So much more than a grand celebration, the Great Yorkshire Show is where the Yorkshire Agricultural Society supports the industry, just as it does all year round.
Some sections of the Show are entirely run by the Society’s staff and farming networks, including the Innovation Zone which returned for a second year. Hosted by our Farmer Scientist Network , new innovations were celebrated, among them the overall winner of the GYS Innovation Awards. The AgriStride Vario dual-span diagonal slats from Wolfenden Concrete helps protect cattle from slips and falls.
YAS CEO Allister Nixon gave a talk about creating a resilient showground and YAS Council’s Davina Fillingham launched Agri-Sense, Yorkshire’s first Precision Agriculture special interest group.
The Discovery Zone, where hands-on activities are funded by YAS and are free for visitors, helped attract 5,300 schoolchildren on school trips. Our School Veg Box competition, challenging primary schools to grow
produce from scratch, was won by White Laith Primary School, Leeds.
Our Future Farmers of Yorkshire’s Breakfast Meeting explored the economics of farms delivering more than just food, before Future Farmers held talks with Defra’s Steve Reed, Daniel Zeichner and Janet Hughes. They also teamed up with Nuffield Farming for an Innovation Stage chat with Nuffield Scholars Tom Scrope and Neil Eastham.
Our Women in Farming Network hosted an Innovation Hour and younger industry professionals taking YAS’s Goodall Agri-Development Pathway met stakeholders as part of their development.
YAS Council’s Fay Grace and Philip Rowbottom hosted ladies from the Roshni Asian Women’s Resource Centre for a cultural exchange trip, and our Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network gave fact-finding tours to the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith and East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader, Councillor Anne Handley.
CONSERVATION SUCCESS
Farm businesses achieving commercial success whilst making conservation and environmental improvements are given prestigious recognition at the Great Yorkshire Show.
Awarded annually by YAS, the Tye Trophy is judged throughout the North and the overall winner enters the national Silver Lapwing Award. This time, taking top honours as well as being named our Northumberland winner was Bainbridge Farms, Morpeth, where Simon and Claire Bainbridge farm 1,650 acres with 180 suckler cows and 1,300 sheep and grow early crop silage. Their conservation efforts at the organic farm have included replanting hedges, attracting bird species such Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Curlews and Cuckoos. Their farm also hosts education visits.
Congratulations to our regional winners: Jimmy and Tom Stobart of Croglin High Hall (Cumbria), Derek and Katrina Gray of Wold Cottage Farm (East Yorkshire), Emma Robinson and Ian O’Reilly of Gazegill Organics (Lancashire), Ray and Sue Ridley of Kexwith Farm (North Yorkshire), Chris Harrap of J&E Dickinson, Tyers Hall Farm (South and West Yorkshire), and Karen Scott of Low Way Farm (Tyne Tees).
To nominate a farm for the 2025 Tye Trophy, email helens@yas.co.uk
NEW HONORARY APPOINTMENTS
A new President, Geoff Brown MBE and Show Director, Rachel Coates have taken up their roles at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society following the conclusion of the 165th Great Yorkshire Show.
As is tradition, the Show’s closing scenes included a formal ceremonial handover in the Main Ring and this year Geoff accepted the President’s crook from the outgoing Martin Cockerill, with Nick Lane Fox succeeding Geoff as President Elect.
Geoff is co-founder and Chairman of Ripon Farm Services, suppliers of agricultural machinery, equipment and support throughout Yorkshire and various neighbouring regions. He said: “I’m very proud to become President. I have been involved in the Great Yorkshire Show as a trade stand exhibitor for about 50 years so to take up this position is particularly special.”
Geoff’s career has seen him work as an agricultural contractor, then apprentice agricultural engineer at Glovers of Ripon. After Glovers was acquired by Appleyard Group, Geoff served as the Ripon depot’s general manager. When the group disposed of its agricultural division, Geoff teamed up with William
Houseman MBE and Maurice Hymas to form Ripon Farm Services in 1982. Geoff has gone on to oversee great growth, recording annual revenues of £160m-plus.
At the Great Yorkshire Show in 2019, Geoff was presented with a Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and YAS award for outstanding contribution to agriculture. In June 2023, he was made an MBE for services to the rural economy.
For the first time in nine years, the handover ceremony also included Show Directors, with Rachel starting her tenure as Charles Mills bowed out.
Rachel, a dairy farmer from Shipley and a member of YAS Council, has been part of the GYS cattle committee for a number of years. Rachel’s family have shown dairy cattle at the Show for around 15 years, winning Holstein Champion in 2023 and 2022.
Rachel has worked in advertising, retail, education and agriculture, and is a director of a Community Interest Company which runs her local farmer’s market. Rachel is a member of our Women In Farming Network and enjoys volunteering at our Countryside Days event for schoolchildren.
YOUR MEMBERSHIP
Thank you for supporting the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. Your membership not only gives you benefits for the Great Yorkshire Show and a discount in Fodder farm shop and café, it helps to fund the year-round work we do.
Your membership fees help us to:
• Host free events like Countryside Days, where thousands of children visit the Showground for hands on workshops and outdoor displays focused on food, farming, and the countryside.
• Fund and assist the Future Farmers of Yorkshire, a group of more than 1,000 forward-thinking industry stakeholders, eager to expand their knowledge and excel in their careers.
• Organise free teacher training and help fund free farmer health checks at auction marts and events.
• Fund the work of the Farmer Scientist Network to bridge the gap between scientific research and practical farming.
• Run networking events that brings farming together via our Yorkshire Rural Support Network, fostering collaboration and mutual support, combating rural isolation and celebrating Women in Farming.
• Sponsor a Nuffield scholar and offer bursaries for major industry events.
• Host the Yorkshire Food, Farming and Rural Network which works to influence policy and advocate for the needs of Yorkshire’s rural communities.
• Provide grants to support innovative projects and initiatives that benefit farming, rural businesses, and local communities.
This is just a snapshot of the work we do year-round to support and promote farming and the countryside.
For more details visit yas.co.uk
INVESTMENT IN NEW GENERATIONS
Fresh support to encourage the next generation is being offered by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, through student grants, training and mentorship.
Younger people working in farming and allied industries in the North – aged 23 to 40 – who are looking to take the next step in their careers can apply for the 2025 round of the YAS Goodall Agri-Development Pathway
This fully-funded annual training programme supports the development of farming’s next generation, helping young people to develop skills and experience, improve performance and prepare for enhanced responsibilities as their careers evolve. The deadline for applications is 30th November 2024.
Agricultural students at the start of their career journeys can now apply for small grant funding of up to £200 to support their studies, thanks to the Society’s Farmer Scientist Network (FSN).
FSN has secured funds from The Lionel Du Pre Trust to specifically support students with access to specialist equipment, resources and apps, travel to demonstrate applied research on-farm, and, to improve access and quality of agricultural research scientifically backed data.
A new intake of mentees is about to get started on the next round of the Future Farmers of Yorkshire’s Mentorship Scheme. Designed through industry collaboration, the scheme is for Future Farmers of every age and business status, with mentees and mentors matched for 12 months to offer guidance towards achieving specific career goals.
YAS is also at the forefront of a new health and wellbeing project backed by a £150,000 Defra grant and involving The Farmer Network, Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services and Field Nurse. The project will deliver farming focused first aid training courses, mental health awareness courses for farmers, and activities to reduce isolation in rural communities, amongst other initiatives. For diary dates of other charitable activities, please see the back page.
MEET THE YAS TEAM
Peter Molyneux, YAS Trustee
What’s your connection to farming?
I grew up in rural Wiltshire. My parents didn’t farm, but I was fortunate enough to get a weekend, and then harvesting job on a local arable farm. For me, that was it, I knew what I wanted to do. After A-Levels, I went to agricultural college with my heart set on becoming a Farm Manager. After a couple of years working on a large farm in Wiltshire, I took up farm consultancy, advising dairy farmers in Cumbria. I was then lucky to be invited to join HSBC’s Agriculture Team. After 12 years at HSBC, I headed up the Northallerton office of Armstrong Watson, an agricultural accountancy firm. Now, I’m Estate Director for Nostell Estates.
Why do you support YAS?
It is exciting to be part of. My YAS roles cover Audit and Investment Committee meetings, Council, and Trustees meetings together with Stewarding in the Sponsors Pavilion at GYS. It is a great privilege to meet and work with so many fantastic people who share a common passion for agriculture. The Show is such an important event in the calendar, but YAS is so much more than the four Show days. Its charitable support to the farming community goes on every week of the year and makes a tangible positive impact on so many people.
What makes you proud to be part of what we do?
YAS has a long and established heritage established in 1837. I enjoy seeing the old photographs of early cattle parades in the Main Ring, everyone enjoying showing their livestock. After many decades of strong governance and wise council, YAS has become a hugely successful and profitable charity, giving support back to those in need.
What was your highlight of the 2024 Great Yorkshire Show?
The Sponsors Pavilion was great fun again this year, working with an established team. We had the opportunity to welcome some new sponsors, and hopefully we can all help grow future revenue for the Show. Personally, one of my favourite moments was a quick tour of the control tower in the Main Ring; a magical ‘birds eye’ view across the Showground.
YAS HARVEST FESTIVAL 2024
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Harvest Thanksgiving Service will this year be held at Ripon Cathedral on Sunday 6th October at 10.30am.
The Reverend Richard Andrew will be our preacher, Chair of the Darlington Methodist District, and currently President Elect of The Methodist Conference.
YAS President, Geoff Brown MBE warmly invites all members to join us and the parishioners of Ripon Cathedral for this special service celebrating the fruitfulness of the land and the skill of our farmers.
Ample parking is only 150 yards away at Sainsbury’s car park. For disabled parking at the Cathedral, please call the Chapter House on 01765 602072.
Following the Harvest Thanksgiving Service, you are welcome to join us for lunch at North Stainley Village Hall where a two-course Sunday lunch will be served at a cost of £33 per head for adults and £13 for children (5-11) (under 5’s free).
To attend the service and/or lunch, please contact Helen Slater at YAS on 01423 546201 or email: helens@yas.co.uk
COMING UP THIS AUTUMN COURTESY OF YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
Our next educational events to further understanding of the countryside amongst children are Apple Day on 1st October for primary schools, followed by free training courses for teachers at the Great Yorkshire Showground later in the month. Course topics include outdoor and nature based learning for SEND children, developing children’s language and literacy skills through multi-sensory, nature based activities, and how to start a school vegetable garden.
All our members are invited to save the date for the Women In Farming Autumn Gathering at Hornington Manor, Bolton Percy, York on Tuesday 8 October, as well as for the Future Farmers of Yorkshire Harvest Dinner Dance at Pavilions of Harrogate on the evening of Saturday 23 November
More details about future events, can be found at yas.co.uk where you can sign up to our email newsletters and receive all our latest news.
