Opportunity for farm PRon
Opportunity for farm PRon
the airwaves
ON an island 30 miles by 11 you are a bit limited for stories, says John Kennaugh who each Sunday morning from October to May has a farming programme on Manx Radio. But this half hour of free airtime which the station offered the NFU is a marvellous PR opportunity, John says.
The offer came at about the time John was giving up the presidency of the NFU. As no one else showed an interest he accepted the challenge. "I am a farmer talking to another farmer," he says, "but most of those listening will have no knowledge whatever of farming."
He gets some good feedback: "People who maybe live in a village, say we know more about farming now. I bring them up to date with modern farming methods," says John, who runs a mixed farm at St Johns.
"My family has farmed for generations here. We are very proud of that and I would not farm or live anywhere else," he says. But he would like the islands government to give more recognition to the farming industry.
"We have to maintain a level of production," he says. "Its like a plane flying through the sky. If you want to reduce its speed there is a certain point beyond which you must not go, Manx farming is like that."
We have to maintain a level of production, says John Kennaugh, farmings voice on Manx Radio.