The Newbury & District Agricultural Society was extremely pleased with the increased number of visitors to the show this year, and the variety of events and activities that were on offer.

The two-day show saw a spectacular farming and machinery pageant celebrating 100 years of British farming, and also commemorating the end of the First World War. Spectators were wowed by how machinery has changed over the years, starting with steam traction engines and ploughs to the latest technology such as precision seeding and large combine harvesters. It truly was a fitting tribute to the British farming industry.

Over 2,000 livestock entries made an appearance. On Sunday, the Champion of Champions were awarded their trophies and rosettes during the grand parade of livestock. The Supreme Beef Pairs Champion was AE & CR Bishop from Wokingham. Supreme Dairy Champion went to Mr Alan Gregory from Corsham and Supreme Young Handler went to Grace Denning from Temple Farm, Bridgwater.

Champion Goat went to Mrs E Kingstone from Marlborough, and Oldlands in Faringdon won Champion of Champions in the pig section. Finally, Supreme Sheep Champion went to Mr Richard Adrian from Newquay.

This year, the show welcomed some very special guests from Japan. Coordinated by the British Pig Association, one key part of their visit was to introduce the Japanese to British Berkshire breeders with the plan that they will import British semen to Japan next year.

Three main groups were represented on the mission; pig breeders, the animal feed industry and the meat processing industry. The breeders were represented by directors from two large farming groups in the Kagoshima area in the south of Japan – Mirai Farming Group and Kihoku Farm Group. Together they have more than 1,800 purebred Berkshire sows, and to put this into context, this is more than four times the total number of Berkshire sows in the entire UK! The Berkshire Pigs achieve a very high premium as they are bred for tenderness and high eating quality.

Two senior managers from Marubeni Nissin feeds were also on the mission. Marubeni is in the top 50 animal feed companies in the world, producing more than 2.8 million tonnes annually. Again, to put this into context, this is significantly more than is produced by the UK’s largest feed manufacturer!

Finally, there was representation from Itoham, a very large meat processor that concentrates on speciality meat products, including ham of a very high specification (and price). They take all the production from Mirai and Kihoku which are fed on Marubeni rations.

Click here to see the results and also Bucks County Show

Photos: Anthony Moseley