We are just 10 days away from the 183rd Suffolk Show and what a line up we have for all our visitors, says a very upbeat Bill Baker, the honorary show director facing his first year in the role.

During these past few weeks the show has really begun to all come together.

We’ve been squeezing in the last minute cattle and livestock entries which now stand at an incredible 3000 plus and confirmed some last minute tradestands, bringing the total, including food stands to about 800.

Singer Laura Wright is joining us on Thursday and our friends from the Army Air Corps at Wattisham are staging a special Apache Helicopter role demonstration on both days.

The many entertainments and ring displays are just part of these packed two days and hopefully will attract many new visitors this year.

There is certainly plenty for people to see and do without spending a penny once they are in the gate.

We are optimistic that our decision to allow children aged 14 and under to enter free of charge will encourage families to enjoy a day out together as a half term treat.

The new “discovery zones” will enable our visitors to explore what goes on in agriculture and food production in this county and find out the career potential, jobs and training opportunities available.

I am excited by the Skills Discovery Zone showcasing the work of our local colleges and the apprenticeship opportunities.

There are so many knowledgeable people on hand, all in one place with valuable experience ready and willing to help.

I am thrilled that a former Suffolk New College horticultural student is working as an apprentice for our senior steward in the Flower Arrangement Competition and also that we have the youngest ever designer of one of our show gardens in 12 year old Lucas Hatch, proving that you are never too young to learn.

I hope everyone will support the young handlers in the cattle, sheep, pig and heavy horse sections.

For them this is the big moment after all those early mornings, helping feed and train the livestock before a long day at school.

The youngest are eight years and under in the junior handler classes for beef cattle. That’s commitment for you!

It will be a marvellous sight seeing them in the Grand Parade on Thursday.

The new major interactive Farm Discovery Zone and the biggest stand at the show to reinforce its importance is designed as a journey through various aspects of farming and food production, divided by group – beef, dairy, poultry, beef, sheep, cereals and vegetables – to enable visitors to make the connection between food and farming. It is fun, provides lots of hands-on activity and please encourage everyone you know to come and participate – watch chicks hatch, see cows being milked, stroke a sheep, sit in a state of the art combine harvester, cook with cereal crops, discover how vegetables look when they are growing in the ground.

The finals of our Suffolk Farming School of the Year competition will be held here on Thursday at 10am.

Come and cheer on the semi finalist teams from Stanton, Saxmundham and Orford Primary Schools and hear the judges announce the winners.

More than 30 acres will be filled with rows of gleaming agricultural machinery, as many of our agricultural exhibitors have extended their space this year. Among them P.Tuckwell Ltd celebrates its 60th anniversary and looks back to 1954 when Len Tuckwell decided to go alone in a venture named ‘Worlingworth Contracts’ selling grey Fergusons and offering contract farming. The display will include some of the early products sold and a picture board of ‘Tuckwells through the ages’ as well as its “Toy Store” of state of the art machines.

Thurlow Nunn Standen has taken a larger area to show the latest Massey Ferguson Delta combine and the Massey Ferguson 2270XD big baler that form part of the formidable TNS demonstration fleet that together are destined for hard work during harvest in East Anglia.