Farming shows join forces with online launch

ORGANISERS of two of the West Country’s biggest and oldest agricultural shows are joining forces for the first time to bring the world of farming direct to people’s homes.

The Dorset County Show and the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, both cancelled this year because of coronavirus, have responded to the pandemic by launching a new online content platform, Farming @ Home.

Aiming to promote agriculture and educate the public, the initiative will see the organisers of both shows working together to produce and share a wide range of authentic and topical content across social media channels – providing an in-depth view into the lives of Dorset farmers from arable, dairy, pig and sheep enterprises.

Chairman of the Dorset County Show, Rebecca Hill, said: “Our Dorset agricultural shows are critical for educating the public about the farming industry and promoting our county’s wealth of high quality food and craft producers.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has sadly meant neither show can take place this year, our nation’s farmers have continued working incredibly hard to keep up with demand – so we wanted to find an alternative way to support them and promote excellence in agriculture, the countryside and rural life.”

She added: “Farming @ Home is designed to reach the public in an easily accessible format, providing new and engaging content to help give a deeper understanding of the workings of our agricultural industry and Dorset’s artisan producers.

“We’re delighted to be combining forces with the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show to drive this forwards and showcase all the incredible things our county has to offer.”

Launching next week, the Farming @ Home content will be free to access, with the first instalment of the series focusing on dairy farming.

With nearly 200 years of history, both the Dorset County Show and Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show are well-established calendar fixtures for the local community, attracting around 80,000 visitors each year as a collective.

James Cox, show organiser of the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, added: “Now more than ever, it’s important that we all come together to support one another during these uncertain times, so our Farming @ Home launch with Dorset County Show is testament to this.

“Our county is renowned for both its rich agricultural heritage and diversity, so Farming @ Home is set to celebrate this and raise awareness about agriculture on a wider scale, while tapping into the ever-growing popularity of social media and the production of shareable content.”

Crowds look set to return to the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show in its usual format on Wednesday, August 21, 2021, with the Dorset County Show to be held over the weekend of September 4-5.

Farming @ Home will be hosted entirely virtually on the Dorset County Show’s and Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show’s own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels from next week

James Cox (left), show organiser at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, with Will Hyde (right), secretary at the Dorset County Show