Ag shows spotlight -'2021 show season still hangs in the balance'

A year set to be etched into the history books, one reason 2020 will be remembered by livestock exhibitors is for being the show season that was not.

Thanks to a myriad of cancellations, the busy periods of preparation, travel and anticipation for what the days ahead might have in store were not to be this year for regular show goers - not forgetting the social and camaraderie too, providing for many the chance to catch up with familiar faces from one year to the next.

Be it a way to showcase livestock for upcoming sales, to support local community events or a family pastime passed down through generations, reasons for exhibiting livestock are diverse among show goers.

Caroline Westwood, senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and researcher in events management, points out the value many take from the connections made as a result of attending agricultural shows.

In July 2020 she interviewed members of the farming community directly linked to livestock showing as part of her research.

Ms Westwood says: “These conversations were a great insight into how exhibitors valued the connections made.

“Many recalled growing up showing livestock, while others talked of joining a ‘wider livestock family’ based on their love of animals and wanting to be part of the showing community.

“Their collective passion for the showing circuit was unanimously clear, alongside a sense of loss of opportunities to connect due to the cancellation of shows during 2020.

“This loss was felt on a business level, as shows were cited by several as their shop window for interested buyers, as well as on a social level, with many seeing their holidays and social life diminish this year as a result of event cancellations.”

Exhibitors

And these are sentiiments echoed by regular exhibitors who spoke to Farmers Guardian.

Ellie Westaway and her family run a beef enterprise on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border, calving a 50-head herd of Aberdeen-Angus and Murray Grays.

Regulars on the show scene in the South of England and Wales, they ordinarily use shows as a platform to market bulls they have for sale.

Miss Westaway says: “We have done a lot of bull viewings via videos this year and sent them to customers which has been quite different. Although we have not really seen a reduction in sales, we have not been out there meeting potential new customers which is what [showing] is all about for us.”

While she is currently on a work placement year as part of her studies at Reading University, Miss Westaway would generally do some freelance show preparation for other exhibitors during the summer months.

She says: “I usually do some show work for people, helping to get animals ready and so on and obviously there has been none of that this year. Some people I know have taken a big hit from that and are seriously struggling.”

Mandy Garbutt has a small herd of Gloucestershire Old Spot sows in North Yorkshire and will typically exhibit at 12 or more shows per season.

Mrs Garbutt says: “Showing is valuable time away and a change of scene that breaks the everyday routine for livestock keepers. We have been doing it since 2009 and it is the same people on the circuit every year. You become good friends, and we have missed not having the opportunity to catch up this year.”