Pictures and politics at 2024 Devon County Show in Exeter

The sun shone on Thursday and Friday and guests enjoyed watching the various competitions, including showjumping, sheep shearing, tug of war and more. 

READ MORE: Second day of Devon County Show - live blog 

On Saturday, the rain came and tractors were sent to each car park to help tow cars out of the mud. 

We are doing everything we can to get visitors off the showground in their cars quickly and safely, despite the challenging ground & weather. We have despatched extra people, more towing eyes & tractors to each car park. Thank you for your patience as we work through this 🙏🙏

— Devon County Show (@DevonCountyShow) May 18, 2024

The NFU called for more support for Devoon farms at the show, highlighting that in Devon, farming supports more than 20,000 jobs. 

At the show, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the farming vote is 'up for grabs' by all political parties ahead of the general election. 

He said: “It is now down to political parties to deliver the policies that are going to rebuild farmers’ confidence and are going to make farmers believe that they have a vibrant future.

“The Farm to Fork Summit held by the Prime Minister at Number 10 on Tuesday was a great opportunity to keep farming and food production on the national agenda and to get politicians to recognise that food security is a critical part of national security.

“What we need is the policies that will underpin the vibrant, thriving farming sector that we all want to see in the future.

READ MORE: Chat with chair of NFU Livestock Board at county show

“Confidence from our members at the moment is at an all-time low across the country and there’s no wonder why farmers are questioning how viable their futures are.

“The results of our confidence survey are really important for us to help drive home the political message about why government need to take actions now and put solutions in place because it is confidence ultimately that will deliver food security.

“It is vital that the NFU remains solution focused and we have a lot of ambition about the productive profitable industry that we want to deliver and the policies that need to underpin that.

“With the general election coming up, we are at an absolutely pivotal time and it is crucial that politicians from all parties go out to farms so farmers can talk them through their challenges and give them an understanding of how to move this industry forward.”