by Pat Crawford of Hadlow College, near Tonbridge

The Kent County Agricultural Society (KCAS) must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when the three days of this year’s County Show were dry and hot, helping to attract in excess of 75,000 visitors.

That is a pretty impressive figure given the competition that today’s agricultural shows – including Kent – are up against. However, although the size of the gate is fundamentally important in financial terms, it is visitor demographics that matter in terms of the show fulfilling its role as a shop window for the farming industry.

Thus, while it’s good there were thousands of visitors from rural areas, people living in the country should already have at least a basic understanding of what farming involves. The results that really matter are the numbers of visitors from towns and cities who left the show more aware of – and considerably more interested in – the county’s food producers.

Hadlow College was a main sponsor of this year’s show. It is well aware of how little the industries that make up farming are understood by the average town dweller. It is recognising this lack of awareness that persuaded the college to increase its sponsorship.

Farmers tend to be perceived as always moaning about something – much seems to be wrong and very little right – and their concentration on “the weather” is regarded as an exaggeration of an industry hazard. Despite the increasing numbers of weather events decimating crops, consumers only register the problem when prices on the shelves rise accordingly.

Kent is home to a number of chefs who are approaching celebrity status – and pubs are serving simple, well prepared “home-made” food. Menus increasingly celebrate what is produced in the county and the focus on regional and local is growing. This year Kent has benefited from consumers’ desire to know the what, where and how of the food they buy.

At the show, the Why Farming Matters and Produced in Kent areas were notably well supported. The Bishop of Dover’s Kentish Breakfast was packed to capacity and the quality of the breakfast – genuinely Kent-produced ingredients – stood up to scrutiny. The livestock show rings, distinguished by excellent commentaries, attracted the largest audiences for many years.

The rural industries, specifically agriculture and horticulture, make a big contribution to the county’s economy. The other big contribution they make, less obvious but very important, relates to the county’s scenery. An asset which is valuable in so many different ways, the Kent landscape is largely managed by our farmers. The County Show aims to get these important messages across to the general public and also helps to unify the various bodies and associations which promote and protect rural affairs.

Hadlow College took home awards including a championship, a reserve championship and numerous other awards in the dairy section, Top Gold Medal and a trophy for the show garden, a Gold Medal in the Horticulture section and second in the class for agricultural trade stands.

That was good for the college but the real significance lies in the fact that Hadlow produces much-needed, high calibre graduates and students for the agriculture and horticulture industries. The shortfall of new entrants – especially in horticulture concerned with food production – extends throughout the world. It’s good to know that a Kent-based college is making this contribution.

Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, Hadlow’s finance director and a board member of KCAS, said: “Despite Kent being a busy county, something like 85% of it is officially designated rural. The rural industries make vital contributions without which the economy – and the county’s way of life – would suffer. We must unite to promote, celebrate and endorse the work done in the rural sector, not least by buying Kent produce. I think the Kent Show makes a substantial contribution to these aims.”