THERE was an intriguing story in the Farmers Weekly last week about growing dissatisfaction amongst some farmers about the coverage given in a recent BBC Countryfile to the views of an animal rights activist and members of the vegan community. “Might as well call it Townsfile” said one poster to the British Farming Forum. “We want a new programme that deals with true countryside matters”

That seems to be an unfair reflection on a prime time programme that consistently pulls in high viewing figures, and regularly outperforms X-Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and the like.

The view was that Countryfile should not give airtime to the animal rights lobby, given that there are estimated 560,000 vegans in the UK, around 1% of the adult population. The report, by Tom Heap, was balanced by an interview with a livestock farmer who was receiving a high number of abusive messages and threats from the animal rights community – and felt endangered

I recall a conversation with Adam Henson at a recent Service Dealer conference in which he said that the Countryfile editorial team had constant, heart-searching discussions about what the viewers, would, or would not, find palatable. Let’s face it, much of farming can be a messy business, however high the welfare standards. It is unlikely that we are ever to be tempted by a programme such as Abattoir Live!

The problem with social media is that encourages myopic activity from those with vested interests, whether they be those who wish to push their agenda in the strongest possible and often abusive terms, or indeed farmers who cannot see the bigger picture.

The question on how you portray food production is a vexed one, and was one of the themes from speakers at the AEA Conference this week.

There is no doubt that we tend to hide our light under a bushel. Farmers are often portrayed on TV or in adverts as a glossy reminder of bygone days.  Provocative questions are asked.  What is your view on pesticides? Bad!  Yet as Anthea McIntyre MEP said “Modern pesticides such as Glyphosate have proved to be safe and are vital to progressive farming.  Decisions on their use need to be based on scientific evidence, not on politics”

Perceptions abound. Few appreciate that many pesticides today are applied selectively and only to the plant that needs eradicating using complex technology and plant recognition cameras. Or that irrigation is not sprayed willy-nilly across the acres but targeted at specific crop roots.

We can argue all we like about the pro and cons of Brexit and the likely impact of the removal of subsidies to farmers, but the fact remains that are more ticks in the positive boxes than in the negatives. Economist Derrick Wilkinson praised the ingenuity, the commitment and the commercial-savvy of many farmers in the UK “They will survive and prosper post-Brexit” he said “the inefficient will struggle and ultimately their land will be used by those prepared to face-up to a new dawn”.

Subsidies have all but disappeared in New Zealand but that country’s farming is going from strength to strength, both at home and internationally.

Another tick in the positive box, is that the UK is a global leader in science and innovation, particularly in the field of agri-tech. Anthea McIntrye told the AEA conference that only this month the UK had been awarded more research Advanced Grants for 2018 than any other EU country. “We took 66 out of the 269, followed by Germany (42) and France (34)"  That kind of talent and scientific infrastructure will surely transcend the detail of Brexit yet to agreed.

That’s the problem, there are so many good news stories that simply ‘don’t sell papers’. So instead of the negatives (which should never be swept under the carpet), ‘we’ and I mean every trade association, every manufacturer, every dealer, everybody working in the industry should spread the word on the remarkable success story of the route from farm to fork to provide the nation with safe, nourishing and affordable food.

And if signs are needed that attitudes could be be changing, then look no further than the current debate going on in Parliament with a view to schools offering farming studies as a GCSE.

Editor Steve Gibbs is back from the US next week - and I can rest my quill