A glance at the calendar indicates this should be Royal Highland Show week, a time when tens of thousands of people usually flock to Edinburgh to enjoy one of the UK’s premier shows.
And it will be the same across the country, with the Royal Welsh, Great Yorkshire, Balmoral and all other shows, both big and small, cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Some of these events have made the decision to take elements of their offering online, with no doubt varying degrees of success.
While for commercially driven entities, such as Cereals Live or even Farmers Guardian’s very own British Farming Awards later in the year, it means they can still provide much needed exposure and publicity for participants, for other events the benefits are harder to discern.
Anyone who has taken part in a virtual dinner party via Zoom or another video platform during lockdown (I realise I am showing my age with that comment), will know that while there is a good time to be had in reconnecting with friends, the buzz of sharing a drink or laugh in person cannot quite be replicated.
So while initiatives such as our own livestock show competition can provide a great opportunity to showcase much sought-after stock to a wider audience, it is often the camaraderie and social elements of the show season many will miss.
For farmers, that takes on an added significance as, given the nature of the industry, summer shows and events offer an often rare opportunity to mingle with friends and colleagues in a setting which explicitly celebrates the industry we are so proud of.
Many shows will no doubt be back stronger in 2021, with the advances in digital communication brought about and hastened by Covid-19 presumably being a much more fundamental part of their future strategies.
But however far technology may have come, it will be that personal connection many will relish re-establishing the most.