Two agricultural shows are working together and launching a free virtual farming series.

The Dorset County Show and Gillingham & Shaftsbury Show are coming together for the first time to bring British farming to the public’s homes via a new virtual content platform – ‘Farming @ Home’.

Aiming to promote agriculture and educate the nation, ‘Farming @ Home’ will see show organisers work share a wide range of authentic, topical content across social media channels.

Rebecca Hill, chairman of the Dorset County Show said: “Our Dorset agricultural shows are critical for educating the public about the farming industry, as well as 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.

“‘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, as well as 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.”

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Content will provide an in depth, real life view into the lives of Dorset farmers from all walks of life – from mainstream farming enterprises including dairy, sheep, pig and arable, to more unique farm enterprises, to showcase the diversity of British agriculture.

The launch of the new virtual content platform comes following the cancellation of both the Dorset County Show and Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show this year.

Launching next week, the ‘Farming @ Home’ virtual content will be free to access, with the first piece in the series exploring Dairy Farming.

James Cox at 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 the Dorset County Show is testament to this.

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

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