It is that time of year again. The late-winter ritual when for two weeks French farmers receive the applause of the nation and go back home feeling that perhaps it's all worth while after all. The annual Salon de l'Agriculture is a morale-boosting exercise for all concerned. Farmers show off their prize steers and enjoy a few days in the big smoke with their wives; Parisians get the thrill of pretending they are still country-folk at heart; and politicians are assured a succession of top-class photo-ops. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin took top award this year for "ingratiating self-abasement in a noble cause" when he posed with a kid goat around his neck like the good shepherd from the bible story. Hundreds of thousands visit the Salon every February, and it is actually a bit of a nightmare on a crowded Saturday. But hats off to France. The French cherish their countryside, and realise its importance for both the economy and national identity. Who is to say they are wrong to try to protect and preserve it? Anyway there was one glaring absentee this year from the show -- poultry. The bird flu scare did its damnedest, and the halls were free of honking geese and rare breeds of cock. A shame. But there was everything else this year, including the mandatory bulls with hyper-developed privates (see pic)