Farmers, food producers and equestrians are getting ready for the island’s two big agricultural showcase events.

The first of them, the Southern District Agricultural Show, will be held today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) at Great Meadow Estate, in Castletown.

At Orrisdale Farm, winners of the Supreme Championship at last year’s Southern District Agricultural Show, I found Carol Kermode polishing trophies ready to be returned and daughter Kirree busy washing sheep ready for this year’s event.

The Kermodes have always been a showing family, both on the island and across.

Carol remembers her parents showing livestock and horses.

Back in 1988 she and husband Pippie had a win at the Royal Highland Show in Scotland with a Belgian Blue cow.

Carol says: ’In 1989 we showed Blues at the English Royal Show and then we came back and showed at the Royal here and won the championship and it was the year the Queen came.’

Kirree remembers: ’It’s always been part of the family so as children growing up we were always used to going and helping Mum and Dad, washing brilliant white cows that were not brilliant white to start with, so it took a lot of effort.

’Then, because they were a docile breed, myself and Thomas would do the young handlers at the Southern District and Royal Manx and then we started getting into the Texel sheep.

’My earliest memory was when we’d take them to compete as a family. In those days we were against Creer family, who were very successful, and Roy Taylor so we were always at the bottom of the pile.’

That changed in 2002 when they won the Texel sheep section at the Royal Manx.

Kirree says: ’That was our first taste of success [with the Texels]. That was huge and something we were very proud of, so that gave us the drive to push on after that and we started competing in the Royal Highland and the Great Yorkshire shortly after that.’

Their successes included a ewe lamb who won her class and was reserve champion female at the Great Yorkshire Show in 2012, and a ram lamb, Orrisdale Viking , who was reserve champion male at the Great Yorkshire in 2014 and went on to sell for £7,000 at the National Premier Sale.

Kirree says: ’We were getting prizes all the way along. We’d come home with something, whether it was eight, or ninth, or fourth, whatever because the classes were 50-plus on many occasions so we were delighted to come home with any ribbon. Even if you made it into the top 20 it was a huge achievement .’

Kirree goes on to say that success in the UK doesn’t necessarily translate to success in the island’s two big agricultural shows: ’In the local shows I’ve always been the bridesmaid with my Texels.

’The sheep classes are so difficult here. There’s some incredibly good sheep, like [those from] Ballaglonney, and there’s a couple of young breeders like Philip Christian coming through.

’So if we get our Texel section won we’ve done incredibly well and I’m very proud of it.’

Kirree goes on: ’At last year’s Southern Show we had 35 sheep there and one Limousin bull.

’I always enter the sheep classes to support the show and it’s up to my brothers, Thomas and Caesar, to get the cattle ready because that’s their side of the business, but they had been busy so two days before the show they decided they were going to take our stock bull who had never been on a halter in his life.’

They won their section and went into the grand parade where the winner of the Supreme Championship is chosen.

Kirree goes on: ’So there they were in the grand parade and I was commentating live for Manx Radio and they got champion of champions and here was I trying to do the speech and I totally froze. I was so proud of them.

’They work so hard with the cattle side of the business constantly so for them to get a little bit of a lift like that was brill.’

This year, she says: ’We’ve got 32 sheep entered and an Aberdeen Angus bull who Thomas says is their secret weapon and they’re going to beat me again!’

With so many sheep entered in the shows - ’32 is a lot of legs to wash’ - Kirree relies on an enthusiastic team of helpers:

’Craig Gelling, Thomas Callister and Sophie Anderson come every year to help get the sheep ready.

’They’re so capable now they can show the animals equally as well as I can and I’m really proud of them.’

The preparations will have begun much earlier in the year.

Kirree says: ’Come March, April time you have a bunch pulled aside that you’ll maybe use as a show team because the UK entries have to be in the first week of April.

’This year we’ve got a nice Charolais female and, within the Texels, I’m quite pleased with our ewe lambs.’

The last week or two leading up to the shows the preparation ramps up, as Kirree explains: ’They’ll have colour added to their fleeces three times before the event.

’This week they’ll be in pretty much every day having something done to them and checking their feet.

’They get extra feed each end of the day too, just to put that extra bloom in their fleeces.

’We wash them once before the show and again on the show morning.

’We used to keep them in the night before a show but we don’t any more: we find that they look stale, they’re just not happy because it’s not their normal environment.

’It does take a lot of work but you’ve got to support the local shows.’

Southern District Agricultural Show secretary, Sarah Comish, says that all the livestock and heavy horse entries are well up on last year.

’Light horse exhibits are down but that may be due to quarantine restrictions [for equine flu], she says.

Sarah adds that she is looking forward to the ever popular meg lamb classes and she is especially excited to have donkeys back at the Southern: ’We’re having a little donkey show on the Sunday,’ she says.

Helen and John Masson, from Ballacricket Farm in Ronague, will be bringing two donkeys along.

They have owned Dutch-bred Fieke, 11, and Lieke, 13, for eight years.

Helen says: ’When Fieke came she was in foal: she had a male foal, Dougal, and we sold him to the Children’s Centre so he’s up there now.’

She took them to the Southern the last time they had donkey classes and Lieke won the donkey championship.

’I’ll have to take them both,’ she says, ’because one won’t go without the other.’

She and John used to show their cattle but now they have retired from farming and Ballacricket is run by their son, Neil, and his wife Vicky.

They previously won the Supreme Championship at the Southern with one of their Holstein cows, Honeybee, who they will be taking again this year.

One of Helen’s six grandchildren will be getting the donkeys ready and showing them: ’All but one are into showing,’ she says.

Food is another big draw at the two big agricultural shows: as well as some great local catering companies, the exhibitors in the DEFA marquee often have special offers so it’s a good time to stock up the freezer.

On Saturday the exhibitors will include Isle of Man Creamery, Isle of Man Meats, Laxey Flour Mills, Noa Bakehouse, Apple Orphanage, Dees and Bees, Close Leece Farm, Hound and Howl dog products and Abfab Cakes.

There will also be a meat and queenies cooking demo by Chris Franklin.

â?¢ The show opens to the public at 10am each day.

The grand parade of winners will take place in the main ring on Saturday at 3.30pm, followed by the judging of the Supreme Champion.

The main trophies will be presented by Chief Minister Howard Quayle and Mrs Lorraine Quayle.