England’s premier agricultural show takes place on Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 July at the showground on the edge of the spa town of Harrogate. More than 130,000 visitors are expected to flock through the gates for an entertaining and informative day experiencing all aspects of farming and country life.

The event is a shop window for the agricultural industry as well as a great day out for the family. This will be the 154th Great Yorkshire Show.

Amongst the highlights of the main ring programme will be the Ukrainian Cossacks, here for the first time. They will give a display each day of the event.

Around the showground visitors will also be able to enjoy:

• Food Hall with the region’s best food & drink
• Fashion shows with national and regional designers
• Cookery theatre
• Garden Show
• Top class show jumping and superb equine classes
• International sheep shearing competitions & the English National Championships
• Demonstrations of country skills – including dry stone walling, fly fishing, pole climbing, gundog training
• Hundreds of stands for plenty of shopping!

…. and more than 5,000 of Britain’s best cattle, sheep and pigs competing for the coveted championship awards.

The Great Yorkshire Show is organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Tickets are available from Thursday 1 March 2012 until Wednesday 4 July either on line – go to www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk or call 01423 541222.

Parking is free and extensive.

Tickets bought in advance                          Tickets bought on the gate

Adult:               £20                                          Adult                £23

Concession:    £19                                          Concession:    £22                             

Children:          £9                                            Children:          £11

Family:             £52                                          Family:                        £60

Countryside Live, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 October 2012

The 10^th Countryside Live event will take place on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 October 2012 at the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate. The event will include competitive livestock and equine, pigeon and poultry classes, dog agility, a horticultural show, and cookery theatre and dozens of stands for pre Christmas shopping. The hugely popular show jumping talent competition, which made its debut in 2010, will again feature and will be hosted by the equine supremos, Graham and Tina Fletcher. Countryside Live 2011 attracted more than 10,000 visitors.

See also www.countrysidelive.co.uk  

The concert will take place in the Main Ring of the Great Yorkshire Showground at the Yorkshire Event Centre, on Bank Holiday Tuesday, 5th June 2012. The specially created fully reserved seated outdoor concert will give thousands of fans the opportunity to dance and sing along to his much-loved songs. The concert is scheduled to finish at about 9pm, giving the audience the opportunity to get home in good time on this, the last day of the Bank Holiday weekend.

Elton John said:

“The first time I played in Yorkshire was in August 1970 at the Yorkshire Jazz Folk and Blues Festival near Halifax. Anyone who was there will probably remember the terrible weather rather than the music!  Since then I’ve played Leeds and Bradford several times, and last year Scarborough for the first time, but I’ve never played in Harrogate before. So I’m looking forward to my first summer visit to this famous English spa town, and you can expect a night of hit songs, dancing and fun - whatever the weather!”

Elton will become the first ever artist to play the Yorkshire Event Centre, Heather Parry, Managing Director said:

“We are delighted to be hosting what will be an absolutely amazing concert at the showground. Although in the past we’ve welcomed several world leaders, including Bill Clinton, a concert of this calibre will be a first for us.

Apart from being wonderful news for the region’s music lovers, it will also assist us in continuing our charitable work supporting the farming and rural communities across the North of England.”

As one of the greatest and most successful live artists, Elton’s spectacular stage shows continue to leave the competition standing! His live performance of over two hours will comprise many hits from an incredible back catalogue, including such classics as ‘Bennie and The Jets’, ‘Crocodile Rock’ and ‘Your Song’.

Tickets for this show will go on sale Friday 2nd December at 10am.

With a career that spans five decades, Elton John is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time. Along with his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin, Elton has achieved 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, 29 consecutive Top 40 hits and has sold an amazing 250-million records worldwide. He has been awarded numerous Grammy, Oscars, Ivor Novello and Brit Awards, as well as a knighthood from the Queen.

With a career that has kept him at the top of the charts for over 40 years, his lifework has amalgamated into more than that of just a recording artist. Through a partnership with lyricist Tim Rice came the music for both the feature film and Broadway stage production of ‘The Lion King.’

Elton also wrote the music for the stage production of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ and more recently

for the box office smash, ‘Gnomeo & Juliet.’ And just last year, Elton forged a collaboration with his long-time musical hero, Leon Russell, on the T Bone Burnett produced album, ‘The Union’.

His most recent project opened in September in Las Vegas with the return of Elton to The Colosseum, Caesars Palace, with a brand new show, ‘The Million Dollar Piano’, billed as “a gargantuan feast of music and imagery“. The Million Dollar Piano is set for a three-year residency at The Colosseum, and Elton’s second as a Caesars Palace headliner.

On October 8 this year, Elton celebrated his 3000^th live concert since he began touring in 1969.

Full Event Ticket Details:

Yorkshire Event Centre, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate

Tuesday 5 June

Reserved seat tickets are priced £80 and £55. Premium tickets are also available.

(Tickets sold subject to booking fee)

Hotline numbers: 0844 581 1317, 0844 847 2441

On-line: www.theticketfactory.com www.ticketmaster.co.uk

For details on hospitality packages: 01423 563 563 or e-mail info@templeroberts.co.uk  

Glorious sunshine and a thrilling climax to three days’ show jumping brought the 153rd Great Yorkshire Show to a close, with the visitor numbers just a touch below the all time record of 135,111 established in 2006. This year 135,086 people came through the gates of what is acknowledged as England’s premier agricultural show.

Guests included TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, who delighted the crowds as they toured the showground, adding an extra hour to their visit as they chatted to visitors and exhibitors. Record figures in the competitive classes with around 1,000 cattle, 2,000 sheep, over 2,000 horses and 400 pigs underlined show’s popularity with exhibitors.

The Cock o’the North show jumping Championship had a packed grandstand crowd on the edges of their seats as John Whitaker and son Robert, went head to head in the jump off. In the end, it was John who took the honours, bringing spectators to their feet in spontaneous applause. The Championship is sponsored by Ripon Select Foods.

Marking the start of preparations for next year’s Great Yorkshire, the outgoing President, Sir Ken Morrison handed over the staff of office to his successor, Raymond Twiddle.

Commenting on the three days, Bill Cowling, Show Director said: “We have had a tremendous Great Yorkshire Show – superb crowds, record entries across the competitive classes and lovely weather. Our aim is to provide a great day out and showcase the farming industry. I believe we have achieved that -  re-enforcing our reputation as England’s premier show.  Next on our agenda is our autumn event, Countryside Live which takes place here at the showground in October.”

The roll of honour at the 2011 Great Yorkshire Show included:

Livestock

Winner of the Burke Beef Trophy Trophy: An Aberdeen Angus pair shown by Peter Whittaker and Fraser Cormack of Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland.

Supreme Beef Champion: A 6 year old Beef Shorthorn bull, Trojan of Craigeassie belonging to Sally Horrell of Peterborough

Supreme Dairy Champion: Holstein fourth calver, Saxelby Goldwyn Rose owned by Robert and Elaine Butterfield of Bentham, Lancashire

Supreme Sheep Champion: a home-bred British Rouge ewe shown by Percy Tait, of Worcester.

BPA Pig of the Year: a Welsh gilt shown by Brooksby Empress 32 from Brooksby Melton College, Rugby.

Supreme Pig Champion: a Large White boar, Panorama Prince 20, run by Bleddyn and Chris Beck of Leith, South Wales.

Equestrian

Show jumping: The Ripon Select Foods Cock o’ the North: John Whitaker riding Peppermill

Cuddy Supreme Champion: A Welsh Section B pony Boreton White Prince owned by Ann and Len Bigley of Herts.

Top Spec Top o’the North Supreme Ridden Championship: Hallmark IX a 7 year old chestnut gelding owned by Miss Heather Boden and Mr T Clay of Astley, Lancs.

Around the Show

The Garden Show

The Doncaster Trophy for the “Best in Show” went to Derbyshire Bonsai from Chesterfield.

Landscape Garden Competition: winners were David Wood Landscapes of Bradford

Cheese & Dairy Show: The Prince of Wales Award for Outstanding Quality: Ryeburn of Helmsley, North Yorkshire, Quickes Traditional Ltd of Devon, Singleton’s Dairy of Longridge, Preston, and milk from a British Saanen goat, Lyncol Betemba.

Supreme Champion Dairy Product: Westland:Old Amsterdam  cheese made by Bradbury & Son of Buxton.

Country Catwalk Stars in the Skipton Building Society Fashion Show

Winners were Raffaelle Guy, 24 of Tockwith, York and Thomas Lund, 28, of Malton.

Next year’s Great Yorkshire Show runs from Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 July, and Countryside Live takes place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October. The shows are organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Supreme Beef Champion & Champion Beef Shorthorn

The Supreme Beef Championship was taken by a Beef Shorthorn six year old bull Trojan of Craigeassie belonging to Harry Horrell. It was also the breed champion.

The first entry in the show’s beef catalogue and appropriately with the entry No1, Trojan collected the third breed championship for the Horrell’s Pode Hole herd at Thorney, where he is stock bull for the 55 cows.

Bred by Lady Glendyne, Trojan is by Belmore Fuel Injected. He has already been breed champion at Surrey County, the National Breed Show at East of England and the Royal Highland shows and went on to be interbreed champion at Peterborough and the Royal Highland. His progeny has sold for 14,000 gns. He was led to victory at the Great Yorkshire by Roy McDonald.

The Horrells also run a herd of Simmental cows and a flock of Hampshire Down ewes.

Limousin

Limousin champion and reserve supreme beef champion was a five year old home-bred cow from Doug Mash’s Brockhurst herd at Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

Grahams Samson daughter Brockhurst Bolshoi, on only her second outing, was led by Dougie McBeath and the cow’s heifer calf by Sarah Jane Jessop. The outfit was reserve supreme champion at the Doone and Dunblane Show.

Charolais

The Charolais champion was from Billy Turner of Skelton-on-Ure, Ripon. The home-bred yearling bull Brampton Fugitive was sired by Trefonnen Crouch.

Aberdeen Angus

Breed champion in the Aberdeen Angus lines was the nine year old cow Rosemount Justine for Whittaker and Co Farms, Cornhill on Tweed, Berwick.

Shown by Fraser Cormack with her seven month old calf at foot, she was breed champion at the Royal Highland Show earlier in the season.

Galloway

Jim and Selina Ross collected both the championship and the reserve with females from their 35-cow Romesbeoch herd at Dumfries. Champion was the 20 month old heifer,  Daisy 971 of Romesbeoch, led by Carolyn Ross.

Her mother was a 1st prize winner at Great Yorkshire last year and she will be shown at the National Galloway show in August. The family has shown at Harrogate for many years.

Reserve breed champion was Beauty 996 of Romesbeoch, an 18 month old heifer which is half sister to the champion, both sired by Kirkmabreck Nimrod.

Belted Galloway

The trip from Usk in South Wales paid off for Jane Smith with cattle from her 10-cow Whitepool herd of Belted Galloways.

Her three year old cow, Whitepool Moondust collected the breed championship while her full sister was reserve. Both are by Southfield Double-0-Seven.

She was first prize junior heifer and reserve female champion at last year’s show  as well as being breed champion and native interbreed champion at the Bath and West, and reserve breed champion at the Royal Highland.

Reserve at the Great Yorkshire was the 20 month old bull Whitepool Northern Light which was first prize junior bull at the Royal Highland and Bath and West shows this year.

Jane has been breeding Belties for 10 years. The champion is full sister to the reserve champion.

Highland

It proved a good birthday present for Dexter Logan when he led his family’s three year old bull to victory in the Highland cattle section.

The cow, Ban-Iara Morag 4 of Blairlogan from Blairlogan Highlanders, at Alva, Clackmannanshre, won the breed championship.Her  mother Ban-Iarla Morag of Blairlogan, was breed champion at the show in 2006 and a year later.

Dexter has been showing cattle from the 30-cow herd since he was six and celebrated his 16th birthday just after the show.

Longhorn

Southfield Jade, a two and a half year old Longhorn heifer, continued her winning ways for breeders David and Angela Blockley, from Bradford.

Jade, by Blackbrook Plantagenet, was female and reserve breed champion and native interbreed champion at the East of England Show 2011 for the Blockleys of Southfield Farm, Drighlington.

Dexter

Breed champion in the Dexter classes was the four year old bull Planetree Talos shown by Mrs Kay Darnbrook of Bailey, Newcastleton, Roxburghshire. The Darnbrooks have been competing at the Great Yorkshire for nine years winning the breed championship four times.

Led by Steven Darnbrook, Talos was also breed champion at the Royal Norfolk this year, and last year was breed champion at the Cheshire, Penrith, Halifax and Westmorland shows. The Darnbrooks’ heifer Hestia was the junior champion at the Great Yorkshire.

British Blonde

Winning the Blonde Society’s 40th anniversary sash as well as the breed championship was Willie Seels of Doncaster.

The three year old home-bred in-calf cow Burghwallis Diva collected one of numerous championships collected by the 45 cow herd during the last three decades of exhibiting at Harrogate.

British Blue

The British Blue breed and  junior champion was a 23 month old heifer Graymer Electra, bred and exhibited by Matthew Jones of Sunnyside Farm, Hadnall, Shrewsbury.The heifer is by Gitan du Petir Mayeur.

Commercial beef

The supreme commercial beef championship went to the heifer commercial champion, a 15 month Charolais cross heifer exhibited by Neil Slack, of Plum Tree, Newby, Penrith.

Supreme Sheep Championship:

The Supreme Sheep Championship went to a home-bred British Rouge ewe shown by Percy Tait, of Worcester.

The 82-year-old former professional motorcycle road racer has been showing at the Yorkshire for the last decade and the three year old ewe Harriet from Mr Tait’s 60-ewe Knighton flock collected his first interbreed award at the event.

The show’s Rouge champion, shown by 19 year old Will Price, is by home-bred sire Boyce and is out of a home bred ewe. She was breed champion at the Staffordshire and Shropshire county shows earlier in the season.

Mr Tait, who was a senior road tester for Triumph motorcycles where he was estimated to have clocked over a million miles of road testing, also breeds Bleus and Charollais sheep at Broughton Manor, Broughton Hacket, Worcester.

Reserve sheep interbreed champion:

Reserve interbreed was a North Country Cheviot gimmer from Roderick Runciman, of Allanshaws, Lauder.

The 15 month old sheep, Allanshaws Pam, was also reserve interbreed at the Royal Highland Show earlier in the year. She is by Synton Bullseye, a son of Allanshaws Double Top, which was bought for £2,200.

His first time at the Yorkshire for Roderick brought tickets for all three sheep entered as well as the breed championship.

The Allanshaws flock runs to 900 ewes most of which are North Country Cheviots which have been bred on the farm for 50 years.

Dalesbred

It was a triple celebration at the show for the Wilson family from Hewness House Farm, Blubberhouses, Otley.

Kevin Wilson collected the Dalesbred sheep championship with a home bred gimmer shearling by a Michael Dawson tup from the 100 ewe flock run alongside Swaledales, champion at this year’s Otley Show.

Son, James, 23, was champion Yorkshire Shearer. A contract shearer he has also spent tiem shearing sheep in New Zealand for the last four seasons. He is a former junior champion at the event.

Wife Daphne, who runs her own florist business, Hearts and Flowers, in Harrogate, had the honour of making the posie on behalf of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society for Camilla Duchess of Cornwall when she attended the show with Prince Charles on Wednesday. The posy was of white Yorlkshire roses.

Suffolk

What was probably the longest-established flock at the show won the Suffolk interbreed championship.

The Roseden flock, established 75 years ago next year by Joe Walton at Roseden, near Wooler, is now owned by Lilburn Estate. The flock was run by Joe’s son, Michael and now his grandson Michael continues to manage the flock.

The winning shearling ram is by Muiresk Kickoff and was on its first show outing of the year.

A shearling ewe from one of the oldest flocks in the breed was reserve champion. The flock has been shown at the Yorkshire since 1953.

Charollais

Patrick Brompton dairy herdsman Stephen Hodgson and his son Sam, 16, won the Charollais sheep championship with a three shear ram from their 35-ewe flock.

The ram is by the flock’s stock tup Inglis Chalky and the champion also sired the class winner in the show’s ram lamb class. The ram was also terminal sire male champion.

Bluefaced Leicester

A ewe given as a present has turned up trumps for North Wales Bluefaced Leicester breeder Jacquie McLeod.

The four year old ewe from her 40-ewe Wanstead flock based at Abergele won the breed championship at the Yorkshire Show.

She was a present from Raymond Harding, of Nantwich, after Jacqui had a two ewes with difficult lambings. The then two year old ewe by Plas-y-Wad W3 out of a Truebridge ewe was herself in lamb at the time. The twin ram lambs she produced b y Old Parks W1 sold well at the annual Builth Ram Sales as shearlings.

As well as winning the breed championship her daughter won as a shearling at the Royal Welsh Show.

Bleu du Maine

It was a week to celebrate for Jonathan Stables and his partner Marian Coutts, culminating in winning the Bleu du Maine championship at the Yorkshire Show on their first year of competing.

The couple have only recently established their Dunelm Bleu flock at Low Esh Farm, Esh Village, Durham, and the two shear champion ram is stock tup to their three pedigrees along with their commercial flock of North Country Cheviot sheep.

The ram was bred by John Davison in hisLangley flock near Hexham and he was bought at the society’s sale in 2010.

The couple came to the show celebrating Marian’s success in the Riding for the Disabled National dressage championship in Gloucester where she took the reserve championship with veteran of the show, a 24 year old 16.1hh Warmblood from the Unicorn Centre in Middlesbrough.

Keen horsewoman Marian broke her pelvis in several places after a riding accident.

Texel

After a long association of showing Texels at the Great Yorkshire, the MacTaggart family finally lifted the breed trophy.

Tommy and Fiona MacTaggart first started showing sheep from their Rascarrel Texel flock based at Auchencairn, Castle Douglas two decades ago.

After a break of a number of years, they began exhibiting again at the event because of interest from their family – son Matthew, 21, and triplets, Ewan, Tom and Rebecca, 16.

It was a one crop ewe by Rascarrel Och Aye out of a home-bred ewe by the 13,000gns Templand Megan which won the breed title, following on from her championship success at the Royal Highland earlier in the season.

As a shearling, Och Aye was reserve male champion at the Yorkshire two years ago. Ten gimmers sired by him averaged £2,500 and sold to 8,500gns at Carlisle in December.

He is by Glenside King out of a home-bred ewe by Cambwell Impressive.

Beltex

Taking top honours in the Beltex lines was David Thornley with a home-bred shearling ram, Dooley Pierre.

Pierre, from David’s flock of 100 pedigree ewes Beltex at Hartstone, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, is by an imported aged ram and will be sold at the Beltex Sheep Society’s annual Carlisle sale in August.

At last year’s show another shearling won its class and then went on to make a record price at the August sale of 18,000gns.

Out of a line-up of 96 Jacob sheep, Ben and Tori Stanley’s Blackbrook flock took top honours.

Their shearling stock ram Hyndshaw Gareth for the 25 females at Woodhouse Farm, Diesworth, Derbyshire was bred by Helen Bailey, of Hyndshaw and he was bought as a ram lamb.

He was breed champion at the Staffordshire and Derbyshire shows earlier in the season.

The couple also run Mule sheep and finish Longhorn cattle as part of a family business.

Herdwick

Herdwick breeder Ian Grisedale has been flying the flag for the breed for 41 years at the Yorkshire Show, missing only two because of foot and mouth and bluetongue.

He won the breed championship with a home-bred gimmer shearling from his 90-ewe flock at Greenmount Farm, Crooklands, Kendal. It was by a tup from David Bland of West Head, Grasmere.

The ewe was a granddaughter of the sheep which was the last to win the breed title for Mr Grisedale at the show in 2006. The herd was established 50 myears ago and Mr Grisedale has been exhibiting the sheep since he was a boy.

Supreme Dairy Champion & Holstein Champion

Robert and Elaine Butterfield repeated their success of last year with their Holstein fourth calver Saxelby Goldwyn Rose – winning both the breed championship and The Supreme Dairy Championship.

The Butterfields, who milk 110 Holsteins in their Ingleview herd at Linghaw Farm, Bentham, Lancaster, have been showing since 1985 and last lifted the breed title in Harrogate in 1989 before their double run of success. The cow was reserve breed champion at the 2009 Great Yorkshire Show.

By Braedale Goldwyn, Rose, which calved on May 16 gave 13,403kg at 4.78 butterfat and 3.57 protein in her third lactation.

The Butterfields bought the cow as a freshly calved heifer from Andrew Stafford in Leicestershire. In 2010 she won numerous top awards, including champion at the All Britain Show.

Dairy Shorthorn

Reserve in the interbreed dairy line-up and the Dairy Shorthorn champion was Marleycote Barrington Iris 15 from the Baynes family, at Slaley, Hexham.

The second calver was on her first show outing for David, Shirley, Richard and Paul Baynes who runs 150 cows in their Marleycote herd - 100 of which are Dairy Shorthorn and the remainder Ayrshire - processing their own milk on farm and retailing half the production under the brand Northumberland Pedigree Milk and Cream.

By Nejay Royalty and out of Marleycote Barrington Iris 9, the champion gave 5,865 kg in her lactation at 4.5 buttrfat and 3.29 protein. She calved on June 17 and is predicted to give 7,744kg in her second lactation.

The Baynes also had the reserve champion Ayrshire Marleycote Marigold 9, a great granddaughter of the cow which won the family’s first Ayrshire championship at the Yorkshire in 2000. Having calved her third, she is predicted to give 9,246kg , yielding 8,404 kg in her second at 4.11 butterfat and 3.41 protein.

She was in the Baynes’ exhibitor-bred winning team along with Marleycote Annette and Marleycote Brown Nell.

Ayrshire

Topping the Ayrshire lines for the third year running were Cumbrian breeders Christine and David Sanderson.

The couple who milk 134 cows in their Sandersons herd are regular exhibitors at Harrogate who travelled from Thackthwaite Hall, Wigton, collected their third breed championship in a row at the event with the second calver Sandersons ES Buntie 16.

The cow by Sandersons Extr Special out of Sandersons Buntie HT5, calved on June 17 and has been giving 38kg a day. In her first lactation she gave 6,451kg at 4.51 butterfat and 3.91 protein.

Jersey

The Saxby family lifted the Jersey top honours for the first time in 12 years.

Richard and Carole Saxby run 50 Jerseys in their Saxby herd at Little Newton, Long Preston, Hellifield, helped by their children Tom, 14, Hannah, 12 and Eleanor, 10, particularly at showing times.

The cows are run alongside 200 commercial Holstein milkers for W Stapleton and Sons, for whom Richard works as herdsman. the herd was established by Richard’s father 25 years ago and Richard has been managing the cattle for the last 15 years.

Saxown JR Natty 4 is due to calve her second to Reagan in October and was shown last year at the Yorkshire as a heifer in milk.

The cow with Jersey Island breeding, is by Juno Roco of Nettle Creek out of Saxown Stylish Natty. In her first lactation she gave 5,829 kg at 6.42 butterfat and 3.83 protein.

Dairy Interbreed pairs

Holstein half sisters won the dairy interbreed pairs for James Pratt’s 100-cow herd at Studdah Farm, Bellerby, Leyburn.

Third calver Studdah Lheros Anna, by Comestar Lheros, and second calver Studdah Bambam Anna, by Braedale Bambam, were in the winning team. Both are out of Carnhill Derry.

Presented by HRH The Prince of Wales in the main ring on Wednesday afternoon, the award was made to the breed champion - a nine year old cow owned jointly by Peter Whittaker and Fraser Cormack of Berwick on Tweed. The Reserve was a five year old bull from Glympton Farms, Oxfordshire.

Rosemount Justine shown by Fraser Cormack, Cornhill on Tweed, Berwick with her  seven month old calf at foot, was breed champion at the Royal Highland Show.  “Winning the award was brilliant. Everyone tries to win the Burke trophy. It’s a great achievement,” said Fraser.

The Reserve, Rawburn Rock Solid, was shown by stockman Keith Gempson for Glympton Farms, Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Sir Roland’s great nephew, Edward Burke, the great nephew of Sir Roland Burke who originally presented the trophy was present to watch the ceremony.

Burke Trophies – Background

The ‘Burke’ Perpetual Challenge trophy is offered for the Best Pair of Beef Animals of a Breed – one male and one female – selected by each breed society. It is one of three Burke trophies - the others the Burke Perpetual Challenge Trophy for the best pair of two female dairy animals selected by each breed society; and the Sir Roland Burke Perpetual Challenge Machinery Trophy, the senior machinery award of the RASE presented to a company with a manufacturing base in the UK which has made a substantial contribution to farm mechanisation through some particular class of machinery - now the RASE Silver Medal.

The trophies were first presented in 1951 to honour Sir Roland Burke who was honorary show director of the Royal Agricultural Society (RASE) from 1931 to 1950 and awarded at the Royal Show until its demise.

Owned by Ann and Len Bigley from Herefordshire and shown by their daughter, Catryn, the couple also had a Welsh Section D cob in the Cuddy final, Llanarth Prince of Wales.

The grey stallion will now go on to compete at the Cuddy Supreme Championship at the Horse of the Year Show being held at the NEC Birmingham in October.

The reserve champion was the brood mare Euphoria 11 owned by Charles Upham from Devon.

The Cuddy Supreme In Hand Championship is to find the supreme light horse or pony in-hand champion of the year, irrespective of breed or type (excluding heavy horses).

The winner is awarded the F W Furness Memorial Trophy as well as £125 prize money and a champion rosette and sash.

The competition is organised by the Society in conjunction with FWAG, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.

Mr Dixon, one of five regional winners in Yorkshire and the North East, was presented with the award at a ceremony at the Great Yorkshire Show on Wednesday (July 13).

Judges said Mr Dixon had an excellent upland farm with a diversity of habitats. Committed to diversification, he was described as an exceptional, forward thinking farmer who has sustainability at the heart of his enterprise.

Russell Toothill from Doncaster was announced as runner up, and a special award was made to Mrs Joy Henderson of Carr Farm, Walsingham, County Durham.

Charles Beaumont of FWAG, presented the awards of £200 and individual trophies to the regional winners along with a further cheque for £400 and the Tye Trophy to Mr Dixon.

Economic sustainability goes hand in hand with caring for the environment on Mr Dixon’s farm in the Cheviot Hills. He farms 1,000 acres of Severely Disadvantaged tenanted land in the Northumberland National Park at Alwinton Farm, Harbottle, in a family partnership.

Stocking is 1,000 traditional Northumberland type Blackface ewes, 300 of which are bred pure to run on the 650 acres of enclosed hill running up to 1,200ft above sea level, with the remainder crossed with the Bluefaced Leicester for North of England Mule lamb production. A small pedigree Leicester flock produces rams for use on the Mules and for sale at the annual Kelso Ram sales.

He also runs a herd of 12 registered Galloway cows in his Alwinton herd which graze the hill and are an integral part of managing the upland grazing to comply with the farm’s involvement with the higher level stewardship scheme.

A former regional winner in Natural England’s Future of Farming Awards, Alwinton Farm has Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the flood plain of the River Coquet, hay meadows with a rich biodiversity of plants, numerous birds including barn owl, golden plover, oyster catcher, curlew and skylarks. It also has archaeological sites, including a medieval village and terraces on the hill.

The farm has 70 acres of woodland and there is an on-going tree and hedge planting and management programme to enhance wildlife habitats.

“Our whole approach to conservation and management is proactive. For us to survive we have to be economically sustainable, environmentally sustainable and ethically sustainable,” said Graham.

In order to maximise profitability, Mules are crossed with the Texel and all lambs are finished off the farm by December and sold to Dawn Meats. Mule gimmer lambs are sold privately. And in an effort to cut protein inputs for feed, Graham in a project with Natural England is trialling home-grown sources of protein from legumes.

Keen to reduce costs for other inputs such as electricity, he co-ordinated a study on micro hydro power, commissioned on behalf of seven farmers in the Northumberland uplands, which showed that hill farms, which operate on tight margins and face a challenging economic future, can achieve substantial cost savings and reduced carbon emissions with on-farm power generation.

The study, funded by the Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group (NULAG) and Northumberland National Park Authority, showed the potential contribution of 5-10% towards core farm costs.

Phil Lyth, Farm Conservation Adviser with FWAG in Yorkshire, said: “The quality of entrants continues to be high, with the work undertaken on farms reflecting the broad range of environmental priorities, from wildlife and landscape protection to natural resource protection and renewable energy. It is particularly encouraging to see how many farmers are actively involved in farm visits and informing school children and the non farming public about their work in managing the countryside and producing food.”

Pupils from Oyster Park Primary School at Ferry Fryston, Wakefield, impressed the judges with their vegetable garden packed with home-grown produce.

For the second year, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society organised a Children’s Vegetable Garden Competition to encourage young people to grown their own healthy produce and become more self-sufficient.

Sixty schools from across the Yorkshire region took part in the competition, with the top 15 boxes invited to the show.

Oyster Park Primary School was awarded the top honours for their vegetable box, with Stillington Primary School, York, in second place and St John’s Church of England School at Knaresborough taking third place.

The keepers of the best vegetable box diary was Dishforth Church of England Primary School at Dishforth, Thirsk.

Garden centre vouchers and rosettes were awarded to the top three, along with the winners of the vegetable box growing diary competition.

Martin Fish, Director of Harrogate’s Spring and Autumn Flower shows was given the tough task of choosing the overall winner.

The Children’s Vegetable Garden Competition, run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, is sponsored by the NFU and Stocksbridge Technology Centre at Cawood, near Selby. The compost has been provided by Bulrush Horticulture Ltd.