John Taylor is the new director of the Suffolk Show

The new director of the Suffolk Show is a good friend of Bruce Kerr - who ended his tenure on a record high last year.

Pandemic restrictions had just been lifted and show-goers returned in force - determined to put the grim two years when the show was cancelled behind them.

John, 53, knows he will have his work cut out to match the magic of 2022 - but he is keen to put on the best event possible and showcase all the county has to offer over the two days.

It's a rare honour to be chosen for the unpaid - but high-profile - three-year post and one which the county's farmers covet.

John is a very hands-on and practical man who loves the technical aspects of growing crops - or agronomy - and puts his talents to good use on his family's 3,000-acre farm, FG Taylor & Son at Clopton, near Woodbridge.

"I love my farming. I have always been passionate about my farming and I'm very proud of our roots here at FG Taylor & Son. It's been going since 1913 and I'm the fourth generation," he says.

He is also a show stalwart with many years of experience in stewarding under his belt - including as senior showground steward - a role which involves many of the practicalities of running a very large two-day event attracting tens of thousands of people.

He describes the role of his former team as "the doers" of the operation who make sure muck is carted out of the cattle sheds and woodchip is applied in the car park access points when it rains.

He grows combinable crops, vining peas and sugar beet with a four-strong team and lives at Hasketon - close to the farm headquarters - with wife, Julia.

He also chairs a co-operative called Wickham Beet Harvesters, where farmers from Otley to Orford club together to share beet harvesting and other functions needed to grow the crop successfully.

Frosts in recent weeks have wreaked havoc with the crop. John is grateful to be an early harvester which means his 30ha of the crop was lifted in December - before the great January freeze.

He is also thankful that his soils are on the heavier side which meant that last year his crops did very well in spite of the scorching heatwave which caused many on lighter soils to wilt.

John is a great believer in co-operation and has good relations with the farmers around him.

"We share the harvester - they are so expensive it makes perfect sense," he explains. "The key thing about farming is community. I know everyone around me and get on with them."

He contract farms for a number of other landowners in the area, including the Buchanan brothers at Gressingham Foods and Stephen Fletcher of Fletcher and Dunt, who is president-elect for the 2023 show.

"I am really looking forward to working with him because I have been working with him on the farm side for probably 15 years," he says.

John left school at 16 and went to work for a vegetable grower in Suffolk before heading to Gloucestershire to learn about livestock.

He completed a diploma in farm management at Cirencester and returned to the farm after his grandad offered to make him a partner in the business.

He married Julia, a farmer's daughter and also a partner in the farm business, in 1997.

They have three children Rob, 24, who works for Brown & Co in Norwich, Pip, 22, studying Russian and French at Nottingham University, and Andy, 18, who has begun an agricultural course at Newcastle. 

John's own induction into farming came early with a textbook example of an easy succession.

His father, Richard, 74, handed over the running of the farm when John was in his early 20s and gave him free rein to make mistakes and learn while at the same time providing guidance and support.

John remains ever-grateful for that early vote of confidence, which meant he was able to spread his wings.

"My father gave me the responsibility when I was about 22 to run the farm," he says. "I am very grateful to him because he allowed me to get my teeth in early. He and my grandad were always there to give advice."

Meanwhile Richard and his late wife, Prilly, ran a swimming pool enterprise which was set up as a diversification in the farm's redundant piggery and is now operated by local company iswim.

There's a big store on an old World War 2 airfield on the farm where the farm keeps oilseed rape crops for a number of farmers. Debach airfield was at one time home to 493rd heavy bomber group and built in the last days of the war. It is now a museum looked after by John's dad, after the site was lovingly restored by the family around 2000. 

John joined the board of trustees at Suffolk Agricultural Association - the farmer-led charity which runs the Suffolk Show - in  2020 - 32 years after he began as a steward. 

He has worked in parking and traffic, the awards office, and water and maintenance.

In 2012 he became deputy show director for David Nunn - the same year he became chairman of the Schools Farm and Country Fair - a job he fulfilled for six years.

He's a great fan of the show and all it stands for. He met his own best man there after they started stewarding in the car parks and became lifelong friends.

"There are good people in Suffolk and it brings it all together," he says. In some cases, it's the one opportunity in the year to catch up with people, he adds.

By the time it comes around, this year's show will have been a year in the making by a dedicated team of farmer volunteers and the Trinity Park team.

"All I can hope is that it will be as good as last year," he says.

Suffolk Show 2023 takes place on May 31 and June 1. For ticket details and other information visit the Suffolk Show website.