Andrew Arbuckle: Ingliston is still a home from home for farmers of all ages

A FEW weeks ago, I was honoured to be asked to write an obituary for a well-known farmer. After collecting the necessary information about the various successes achieved by him in the livestock breeding world, I asked about his life away from farming, expecting to hear some of the favourite rural pursuits such as shooting, fishing or curling.

“Well,” replied the offspring, “he liked going to some of the big agricultural shows.” Although he has gone, the industry still has many who, when they move off their own farms ,do not stray far. And that I suppose provides one of the many reasons why this week and next, all roads will lead to Ingliston for the farming community.

Without getting too analytical about it all, there are those who like to stay within their comfort zone and visits to AgriScot this Wednesday or the Winter Fair a week later come into that category.

There are many other reasons for visiting both events but first let us first consider why Scotland can still put together two very successful winter events while others have withered and/or disappeared.

My own thoughts are that both Scottish events are still largely organised and run by practical people within the industry. They set the programmes, they help put up the stalls and they roll their sleeves up in order to make their events a success. I have visited both events on the day leading up to the doors opening, and observed the hard work that goes in by the organising committees.

And what reward do they get? They will likely be given a rosette or badge to wear on the day as they carry out their duties. They should have a glow of satisfaction after a successful day but other than that, nothing; which says a great deal for the commitment of both sets of directors. And because they listen to the heartbeat of the industry they provide what the customer wants. I almost fell into the cliché of saying the “paying customer” but since both events have free entry, visitors never need to put their hands in their pockets if they do not want to.

The paradox with the free entry for AgriScot is that it has successfully turned itself into a business event for all sectors of the industry, attracting visitors from both the livestock and arable sectors.

For those coming to AgriScot, there are more than 200 trade stands covering every aspect of farm business from supplies and machinery right through to professional advice.

This year, the organisers have increased the number of seminars which have traditionally focused on the discussion between the president of NFU Scotland and the rural affairs secretary on the issues of the day and this year will no doubt cover the latest on the CAP and EID compliance problems.

But the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board has put together a programme of talks on issues facing the arable farmer such as price prospects for the 2012 grain crop and saving money on growing potatoes.

It will be interesting to see how much support these extra seminars pick up as AgriScot has already a pretty packed programme including the prestigious dairy championship and a demonstration on improving profitability in the beef sector.

However, part of the event’s success has been based on innovation. This is in comparison with the traditions and competitions at the Winter Fair which rather grandly title itself the Royal Highland Winter Fair.

Those who set up the Scottish National Fat Stock Club more than 100 years ago wanted to see who could produce the best animal for the market.

This is the 100th competition and the same rationale exists, with top commercial cattle and lamb producers vying for the title although their animals are vastly reduced in size and in fat cover from those at the first events all those years ago.

In the run up to this year’s event, the Earl of Elgin recalled that his reserve overall champion in 1937 weighed in at over 17cwt which when converted to kilos will be more than twice the weight of the 2011 champion. The 1937 judge described the animal as “excellently finished”.

However, I do not want to give the impression the Winter Fair is all tradition as this centenary competition will see stockwomen judging all the main sections. Having previously ranted in these columns about agriculture being somewhat behind the game in the equality stakes, I heartily applaud this decision.

And having studied the list of judges, in no way could it be called a gimmick as each and every judge is there on her own ability and experience. I realise that will not stop the ring-side moan from so-called experts, this being part and parcel of any livestock judging competition.

Just thinking back to the old man’s obituary, I suppose when it comes to someone writing mine, it might also say: “He enjoyed going to agricultural events.”