Farmer Focus: June is the month of shows

June is the month where most of the shows take place. From visiting a wet-and-muddy Cereals at Diddly Squat Farm, to the 141st Lincolnshire Show a week later.

I am one of hundreds of volunteers who steward at the Lincolnshire Show to help make it the best county show in the country.

My role starts on the Thursday before the show, when I begin to set up for the arrival of livestock vehicles and caravans.

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About the author

Mark Stubbs

Mark Stubbs manages his 700ha family arable farm in Lincolnshire, in partnership with his parents. The farm grows wheat, malting barley, oilseed rape, linseed and cover crops. Mark won the highest yielding winter wheat crop in the 2024 YEN awards.

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This year was more challenging than usual as numbers were up by 20% for beef cattle, 40% for dairy cattle, 25% for sheep, and 50% up for pigs.

Trade stands were also up this year by 10%, and equine were up by a small amount, too.

Like all shows, it wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for such a great team.

The office staff work tirelessly for 365 days to get this event organised, with numerous phone calls to trade and livestock exhibitors, and there is a team who chase sponsorship and organise VIPs.

This year the show attracted celebrities JB Gill and Kelvin Fletcher, but it didn’t stop the likes of Harriet Cowan and “Cheerful” Charlie Ireland from Clarkson’s Farm attending off their own backs.

The ground staff made the showground look the best it has ever, despite the difficult weather conditions.

Both the ground staff and the office staff don’t get the praise they deserve, because once there is a problem, all the complaints land on their heads.

With the economy in a very difficult place at the minute, you always hear rumours of the cost of shows, but like all events, they do cost a lot to organise.

Despite this, it didn’t stop 62,000 people attending the two days of the show, with very positive feedback from exhibitors and the general public saying this is the greatest show in the country.

So, hopefully, we can get more than 75,000 people next year.

After a tiring show, it was back to the reality of work and looking at the crops, and getting ready for a harvest, which is still showing a high potential yield on the east coast of Lincolnshire.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the the case for those who haven’t had enough rainfall and are experiencing record temperatures for this time of year.