Farm Radio is an internet radio station aimed at people interested in farming and the countryside. It is proving a great success, clocking up nearly one million hits on its web site in the past year.
The station, launched in Dorset in November 2003, aims to create stronger links between rural communities. Professional farming journalists and volunteers from farming backgrounds, make the programmes which cover up-to-the-minute farming issues. Each month a new edition of Farm Radio is available to listen to online and all previous programmes remain on the site.
Farm Radio is funded by the EU LEADER+ scheme, the South West Foundation and the Sustainable Development Fund. LEADER+ is a European Union programme, managed in England by Defra, to help rural communities improve their economic prosperity and quality of life.
The project is the brainchild of Trevor Bailey and John Holman, of Dorset's rural media charity, Trilith, which has existed for 22 years. The idea arose after John and Trevor heard from farming families that the closure of virtually all of Dorset's livestock markets had led to the loss of business and social contact.
Trevor said:
"We wanted to find a way of helping farming families keep in touch with developments and other people's experiences in agriculture."
The station is now building on its success with a partnership with two Irish community-run radio stations, Raidio Corca Baiscinn, Co. Clare and West Limerick Radio, Newcastle West.
Through the partnership the stations will visit each other to find out more about their work and share ideas on how to reach their rural communities. Each station will also broadcast programmes made by their counterparts, to give people in their community an insight into rural issues in a different country.
