THE turning of the year is reflected in the fact that two of the biggest set piece events in the calendar are fast approaching.

In the first week of August there are the two big major annual agricultural shows.

As is the case with buses after a long delay they seem to come along close behind one another although this is not a good analogy in rural areas where the local bus is becoming almost as much a historical memory as the horse drawn tractor.

On Thursday, August 4 it is the Burwarton Show and then two days later on Saturday, August 6 we have the Tenbury Show.

Both of these events have been features of the calendar of south Shropshire and Tenbury and the Teme Valley for longer than most people can remember.

It is inevitable that they have both changed with the passing years and both the Burwarton and Tenbury Shows are now about much more than just agriculture.

Both have a programme that provides a great day out for people who could not tell a Hereford from a Scottish Black Face or a seed drill from a combined harvester.

The is fact that too many people at these events could not, and frankly would not, want to make the connection between the cute newly born lamb and the piece of meat garnished with mint sauce that they find on their dinner plate.

But this does not mean that the agricultural shows are of little or no importance to the farming community.

They remain a place where a lot of business gets done and connections get made. If this was not the case then the big businesses that provide agricultural machinery and other services would not spend the huge sums they do on stands at these events.

The shows also provide an opportunity to show off the best in British livestock and there are truly wonderful displays of the great variety of animals to be found on our farms.

But there is another vitally important aspect to events like the Burwarton and Tenbury Shows.

It is simply that they enable the people who work the land to get together in a business and social environment.

Amongst the aspects of farming that are not well understood are both the sheer hard work and loneliness of the job.

It is not for no reason that programmes such as the BBC Radio Four Farming Today programme goes out at 5.45am because by this time many agricultural workers will be at the breakfast table if not already on the land.

Farming is also an incredibly lonely job and the mechanisation of agriculture means that men and women will often spend hour after hour and day after day working alone.

Few people these days farm for the money and for many and not just in the diary sector it is a constant struggle to keep heads above water.

Farming may appear romantic to those looking on from afar but it is anything but for those in the field, barn or milking parlour.

The brief opportunity to come together that shows like Burwarton and Tenbury provide for the agricultural community should not be understated.