Good weather and even better crowds have ensured that the 2013 agricultural show season is off to a dream start. Despite the few traffic problems on day one, Balmoral Show was an unqualified success.
Ballymena, Ballymoney and Lurgan Shows have followed in short order, with the feedback from the three events being unanimously positive.
One of the most encouraging facets to this year’s local shows has been the tremendous public support for the Friday evening activities scheduled at Ballymena and Ballymoney. Both show societies have liaised closely with their local young farmers’ clubs to make all of this happen.
Undoubtedly, this is a lesson which other event organising teams can learn from.
Moreover, Friday evening is a time of that suits many potential visitors. With the working week over, people tend to be more relaxed, whereas Saturdays bring with them the pressure of shopping and, for young parents, the challenge of bringing the kids to the host of leisure/sporting activities they are involved in.
In any event, let’s hope the sun continues to shine during the weeks ahead. The quality of the livestock entered for all the shows to date has been exceptional. As a consequence, the general public are being provided with the perfect opportunity to see all that is good about agriculture and food production here in Northern Ireland.
Thankfully, consumers’ interest in finding out more about the food they eat and how it is produced shows no sign of abating. Our local shows continue to provide a valuable ‘shop window’ in this regard.
The days are long gone when Europe, essentially, bought all of the main food product lines produced locally. The consumer is king and everything must be done to tell the buying pubic that the food produced on local farms is of the highest quality and the challenge for the various agricultural show committees is to build on the successes they have built up over recent years. And in order to do this, they must succeed in bringing more members of the general public through their gates.
Don’t forget to check out farmingshows.com for all the latest info on shows throughout the world.
(By Shane – Farmbud – The Online Farming Network)
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