A tale of two shows

This is a tale of two shows ... the Royal Highland and the Royal.
While the former was an outstanding success once again, questions have to be asked about the future of the latter.
Certainly not helping the Royal Show at Stoneleigh this year was the atrocious weather, pictured, which forced organisers to end it a day early on health and safety concerns.
I have considerable sympathy for the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and am disappointed that its initial hopes for a rejuvenated Royal this year were dashed in such spectacular manner. My heart really does go out to show director Peter Stovold, deputy director Geoff Burgess and RASE chief executive, Professor John Moverley.
The Royal used to be so good, with so many different stands offering a slice of rural life.
Things have changed, however, and where there used to be stands aplenty there is now empty space, and rather a lot of it. The immediate feeling when you enter from car park four now is that the Royal is on its way out as each year that goes by the longer it takes to get to the show's fringes.
The opening press conference on Sunday saw the somewhat bizarre claim that the Royal is the biggest outdoor agricultural exhibition in Europe. I certainly queried that, especially as the Royal Highland - Scotland's national farming event – has considerably more stands, and far more agriculturally related. Somewhat strangely the Royal claims that the days of machinery dealers at shows are over as they don't do any business. That's most certainly not the case with the Highland which still boasts considerable machinery interest; then again, that's not surprising given the level of business done at Ingliston, the Royal Highland's Edinburgh home.
To loose the Royal would be a disaster for Britain, and that's why the RASE deserves to be given some time to resolve the problems.
That it finally admits that the event has problems is the first step in rebuilding it. The next is in getting back an agricultural audience to a show over which they became wholly disillusioned.
Much is made that the Royal has become a victim of its own success in that the specialist events that spun out of it are the future. I don't agree with that. I still see a place for the Royal Show in Britain's agricultural calendar as in the eyes of the world it remains Britain's most important farming event.
That's why 4,000 international visitors were registered for it, and why cattle and sheep breeders the length and breadth of the UK still take stock to it.
The RASE has a steep, and rocky road ahead of it. Let us all hope that the Royal survives, that it gets its atmosphere back, but more importantly it's crowd.
The disconnect could be to do with the fact that working farmers don't wear bowler hats, nor would they preside over the utter disaster that is the Royal's results service and which on Tuesday threw up a reserve supreme dairy champion which hadn't been placed as a breed champion or a reserve.
The system is a shambolic disaster and an embarrassment to an event that bills itself Britain's most important agri event. That it doesn't carry results for days after classes have been judged, frequently misses out breed champions and reserves is nothing short of a disgrace.
Those responsible for presiding over the debacle deserve a sharp boot up the backside.
I hope those kind people at Mistral – the show's PR people – read this and take the message back to the RASE so this long standing issues – it's been going on for the 11 years I have been attending – can once and for all be addressed.