Through sheep shearings, competitions and his contacts within the nobility, Coke soon spread his new ideas and breeds. Initially small events of local farmers, the shearings soon became 200-person formal dinners, rising to 300 people in 1821 and 700 soon after, with even the American ambassador Richard Rush attending in 1819, along with the French Consul and the Duke of Sussex. The Board of Agriculture was formed in 1793, with Coke sitting as one of the 30 "ordinary members" as a leading agriculturalist; he was made the Vice-President in 1805. The Board published a series of county reports for most of the United Kingdom, describing new farming measures being undertaken in various parts of the country.