The Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell visited the Charolais cattle where he met Show Director Rachel Coates and handler Barney O’Kane from Northern Ireland with his beast, Goldstar April. The breed’s national show took place at the Show today, with the championship won by heifer Brailes Violet owned by Mr and Mrs M Alford of Cullompton, Devon, and reserve going to Mr T Atkinson’s bull, Goldstar Ulysses.

Wednesday offered the first opportunity for visitors to see the Hardy and Free photography exhibition at the Show. Created by award-winning photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn, it was originally commissioned by the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth as part of its contemporary arts programme and then a new series of portraits was created for Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture. Exploring the relationship between 12 contemporary women and the natural world, the exhibition features Show Director Rachel Coates and runs until Friday.

The Future Farmers of Yorkshire network’s Breakfast Meeting, supported by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, looked at ‘Facts or Fads: What Food Trends Mean for Farmers’. The discussion looked at the impact of food trends on farmers, from the use of GLP-1 medications for weight loss leading to higher demand for high protein foods to the demand for quick-cook convenience foods and a return to cooking from scratch, and how they could plan for the future.

A show debutant triumphed in the Best Display of Cheese, which was the culmination of three first-ever digital cheese classes introduced to the Show this year, for cheese celebration cake, grazing platter and cheeseboard.

The winner was Jess Waterton Bailey of Leeds and mother-in-law Pam Knighton of Bedale whose cheese celebration cake was a recreation of the same multi-tiered cake that Pam made for Jess and her son Josh’s wedding two years ago. It showcased seven cheeses: Yorkshire Summerfields-Botton, Ribblesdale Blue Goat, Appleby’s Red Cheshire, Yoredale Wensleydale, Yorkshire Blue, Cornish Yarg and a Godminster Organic Cheddar Heart.

Jess, of Graze by Posh Cheese said: “When it was announced we had won it was quite overwhelming. It’s great that we get to share something so special to us with everyone else.”

Many of the rosette-winning cheeses will be auctioned at 3pm on Thursday, which is expected to raise thousands of pounds for charity.