‘Every meal begins with a farmer’ and ‘back British farming’ signs were everywhere at the farming event over the weekend (September 20 and 21).
And with recent news events and the way the industry is worried it’s heading, it was difficult not to be so overtly political.
So often, politics – or rather “what the government is doing to us” – echoed from farmer to farmer at this year’s show, formerly called the Royal County of Berkshire Show.
Even hosts of the many shows taking place across the ‘stage’ fields struggled not to land a cheeky dig at the government or tell truth to power.
Showcasing the best of British farming also means you have the best British farmers in the spotlight.
Farming isn’t their only talent, it seemed. They were excellent communicators, too, which is crucial in getting the point across about why farming is so important.
“Without farming, the world will starve,” said one brilliant farmer on Sunday afternoon explaining fertilising methods and equipment, including a massive £20,000 drone dubbed the future of farming.
It’s a statement that sounds dramatic, but when you think about it, it’s 100 per cent true.
These are the people we should be listening to, not what PR spin the government tries to push out on how it ‘helps farmers’, because farmer’s will tell you the government is not.
You could fill the column inches for days discussing inheritance tax, dwindling subsidy grants, development in the countryside, solar farms, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, red tape…
However, that would be unfair, because what Newbury Agricultural Show is all about is celebrating the very best of not just Berkshire farming, but British farming.
At the top of this and arguably the part most attendees loved was the livestock judging competitions.
Breeds of sheep, beef cattle and pigs were all fastidiously judged from their teeth to their fur.
All are loved and impeccably looked after by their owners – another important message that needs to be shouted loudly for some groups in society who believe otherwise.
What Newbury Agricultural Show does so well is educate and inform more than 30,000 people who attend over the weekend.
Some facts of interest include just over half of land in the UK is used to grow cereals; each cow produces 22 litres of milk a day; there are 35,000 sheep farms and 25,000 beef farms in England.
But the most important fact of the weekend: every meal begins with a farmer.
If only the government would recognise that.