The Royal Highland Show, set to take place later this month, will see prize-winning cattle gracefully wend their way across the showground's main ring in the hugely popular Grand Parade.

The bleating of sheep is to be expected at such shows, but equally common - these days - is the bleating of attention-seeking fringe groups.

A couple of years ago, PETA called for the Royal Highland Show to ditch livestock parades for "Turnip beauty pageants" and a “potato-sculpting competition”.

This year, they are calling for the parade to be scrapped and a statue to be erected in commemoration of the paraded animals. They also suggest a cortege of potatoes and squashes in place of the livestock parade.

It is expected that, as usual, their demands will be rightly rejected.

The Countryside Alliance praises the important work that the Royal Highland Show and other agricultural shows do.

The Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), which produces the Royal Highland Show, celebrated its 240th anniversary last year. The charity invests in educational programmes, community development projects, sustainable practises, and heritage preservation efforts, while supporting initiatives that benefit farmers, rural communities and society as a whole. The 2023 Royal Highland Show raised over £900,000 last year; proof of how valuable the Show is to businesses and the Scottish economy.

RHASS in turn provided over £300,000 charitable funding to a range of different bodies, including Glasgow Veterinary School, the Royal Highland Education Trust, and local shows throughout Scotland.

More generally, agricultural shows have been identified as hugely important to rural Britain, promoting rural tourism and bringing in visitors from outside the region and beyond. Estimates from the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations (ASAO) suggest that approximately 10% of the population of the UK (7m people) attend agricultural shows on an annual basis.

Johnnie Furse, a spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance, said:

"We hope that this year's Royal Highland Show will be another roaring success, and we would like to thank the organisers and all farmers who will be involved for their sterling work in championing the countryside and Great British produce.

“Shows like the Royal Highland Show are incredibly important for rural communities. They are a boon to local economies, encourage rural tourism, and do invaluable work in connecting urban populations with rural areas and in building an understanding of food and farming.

“Peta routinely put out bizarre and irrelevant demands to get attention. They are best ignored. Meanwhile the rest of us will proudly continue supporting farmers and the rural way of life”.