Shout about industry, Henson tells sheep farmers

Scotland’s sheep farmers have been urged to start shouting from the rooftops about their “amazing” industry to help satisfy the massive national hunger for food and farming stories.

BBC Countryfile and Lambing Live presenter Adam Henson welcomed an estimated 6000 visitors to Scotsheep’s event at Mains of Burnbank farm, Blairdrummond, Stirling, and told them the time was ripe to drop the barriers and get their “great message” across to the general public.

“Agriculture has cleaned up its act and there’s much to sing about. Things are looking bright, so capitalise on the opportunities out there. It’s not just about the food you produce, but the environment you’re looking after and the essential social structure the industry provides in the hills and uplands,” he said.

Mr Henson, a tenant farmer in the Cotswolds, said there was a need to promote lamb consumption and put a stop to imports of sheepmeat. He revealed that the success of this year’s Lambing Live has encouraged the BBC to repeat the exercise next year on a hill farm in Cumbria.

“These are exciting times. The BBC wants to take the story on further. The Countryfile audience has grown from two million to seven million and is now the most watched programme on all [UK terrestrial] channels on a Sunday. The nation is hungry for information on food production and wildlife.”