I agree it is a lot of money for entries to shows but as a breeder it costs me £130 to enter our stock to the New Forest Show, but we do take a lot of animals and the public love to see them. They pay £ 21 to get in at the gate, reduced rate if you buy tickets on line before the show. I guess it,s all about what you get out of your day there. What would be worse, is if they payed all that money to see the stock and there was none there to see!
This is why we take a large age range of sheep to keep the classes open.
We also steward at the show and i know the cost of putting one of these shows on! the public liability insurance alone would make your toes curl and don't forget the police,first aid cover, car park attendants and security all have to be payed for.