Archived News

27th May 2008

The Surrey County Agricultural Society (SCAS) took a huge loss at the County Show in 2007 due to apalling weather, so it was imperitive that the show was a success this year.  Sadly this was not to be,with yesterday's deluge reducing the numbers through the gates once again.  Let's hope for fine weather next May, with throngs of visitors so that SCAS can recoup some of these recent losses so they might continue to provide everyone with this fantastic family event.

Despite the weather (I say this a lot on the farm!), there were many livestock exhibitors and Laurence was fully occupied as a steward for the Highland cattle classes.  The Society rely on plentiful volunteers from a variety of walks of life to be stewards. The livestock stewards are not just farmers, there is also a butcher, Regional Director of the Country Land Owners Association and Agricultural Advisor to Customs and Excise, all have an interest in farming and the countryside and a strong desire to maintain a thriving rural economy.

Every breed of cattle, sheep and pigs has a steward who is responsible for getting all the correct animals into the judging ring for each class, producing the certificates and rosettes and insuring all exhibitors and the judge have everything they need.  This was quite a challenge in torrential rain and high winds but everyone put on a brave face and after all the efforts of the show organisers and the hours of preparation by livestock exhibitors I think it was a great day.

The County Show is an excellent showcase for farming and rural skills, giving farmers and other country folk an opportunity to talk to the public.  Most visitors walking through the cattle marquee have rarely, if ever, stood face to face with a cow let alone a bull, but this was theit chance to meet the farmers and the livestock and discover more about where their food comes from.

It was good to see John Gunner and his son Steve, showing their new bull named Johnny.  John has started to restock his farm after the devastating consequences of Foot and Mouth last summer, however he is still not allowed to put stock into our field in which his cattle were grazing at the time of the outbreak. In order to connect up a water supply recently, John had to apply for a licence from DEFRA to enter the land and he had to dissinfect himself fully after the visit.  Amazingly we never received any communication from DEFRA, neither at the time of the outbreak nor since, despite this being under our holding number for which our full details are listed.  I can only presume that they wouldn't wish us to move cattle over to the site either, but that's just from hear-say.  How long  this will continue? we have no idae. I wonder if they will ever contact us to say we can resume grazing this land. What a shambles DEFRA.

So, back to the County Show - we greatly enjoy an annual catch up with old friends and look forward to a less stressful twelve months for one and all, until we meet again.