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BBC to drop Farm Gate from Radio Ulster

Over 30 years ago, Farm Gate started as a standalone radio programme serving rural communities in Northern Ireland. It moved to a regular slot on Good Morning Ulster and Evening Extra.

The latter slot was dropped in recent years and the duration of the farming news profile on Radio Ulster has been reduced significantly over time, to the stage that it now accounts for an average of four minutes within the 24-hour cycle of broadcasting on the channel. The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) is asking the BBC to rethink its plans to cut Farm Gate from Radio Ulster. The show goes out at 6.45am on Saturday mornings and is presented by Elaine Mitchell. According to the UFU, by axing Farm Gate, BBC would be isolating rural and farming families. Farmers deserve to have a voice and, according to UFU president David Brown, that voice is Farm Gate. By contrast, the farming community in the Republic is better served with Countrywide still attracting decent listenership numbers every week, even if figures have reduced in recent times. In addition, TV coverage of farm-related issues remains strong with Ear To The Ground still going strong and back on the air this month.

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