BBC Radio Ulster is planning to drop its long running ‘Farm Gate’ slot in its main weekday morning and evening news magazine programmes.
According to the Irish Farmers Journal, the announcement has stoked up strong reaction, leading to the corporation being lobbied by Northern Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture & Rural Development Michelle O’Neill, as well as the Ulster Farmers’ Union.
Farm Gate has been on BBC Radio Ulster for over 30 years and provides a link between rural and urban dwellers as well as giving a public broadcasting service to farmers.
Starting out as a stand-alone programme, it was subsumed into the ‘Good Morning Ulster’ and ‘Good Evening Ulster’ news programmes in the past 10 years, but now faces the axe with the BBC saying that the rural community will instead now be catered for by a dedicated agriculture and environment reporter providing regular reports within Radio Ulster’s news programming.