He said: "I do think it's the central celebration of rural Bucks and farming, forestry and food, but around that, you have got a presence from a lot of organisations within the community with youth groups, the services and charities.

"It's important that people in the towns understand that the countryside isn't just pretty pictures.

"It is a place where people live and work and make a living and farming is a way of life.

"There's a growing interest within the towns with people wanting to know where our food is from, the environmental impact farming has and this is an opportunity for people, like myself from towns, to learn more about what farming and the modern countryside is all about."

He added: "It's always good to be here and it's very sad that there's no livestock, but I think everybody understands that with the foot and mouth, before it took hold and then a sense of relief that it looks as if that has been contained and won't turn into the epidemic of 2001."