Clueless townies in field study.

Byline: Anna Lognonne Rural Affairs Correspondent

City dwellers' woeful lack of knowledge about country matters is to be tackled by a new course at a North college.

Northumberland College is reaching out to those who struggle to identify a Limousin steer or a Bluefaced Leicester ram.

The Townies Guide to Farming is an eight-week evening course being held at Kirkley Hall College, near Ponteland, for people interested in how their food is produced and British farms operate.

The course, which starts on May 7, follows recent research published by the National Farmers' Union which revealed urban Britain has never been more disconnected from its rural roots.

The survey discovered almost a fifth of Britons don't know yoghurt is made from milk, fewer than two in 10 people know 75pc of the UK is farmland and two-thirds have never met a farmer. Course organiser Sandra Bain said the course should appeal to people of all ages and is aimed at those with little or no knowledege of farming.

Each week a different topic will be discussed such as arable, sheep, beef, and dairy production, as well as hill farming and agricultural machinery.

There will also be farm visits, including an optional excursion to Northumberland College's hill farm Carlcroft, and demonstrations, such as sheep shearing, to help people understand what goes on down on the farm.

Mrs Bain said: "It will be a fairly broad course and we're going to try to cover all types of livestock production, including poultry and pigs, as well as looking at arable crops and discussing topics such as milk quotas."

Alnwick farmer and Northumberland NFU chairman Stoker Frater said the course could be beneficial but he felt that people wanting to know more about the countryside didn't need to sit in a classroom to find out, they just needed to visit a local farm.

"We do need to make people in the towns more aware of what is going on in the countryside, but if they do want to find out more then they are welcome to come out and visit us.

"I know I would be more than happy to show people around my farm and tell them what goes on," he said.

The NFU has put together a list of farms in the region that people are welcome to visit, either as family groups or on school trips.

Victoria Brook, from the NFU, said: "To coincide with our campaign, Care of British Farming, we have put together an informative website where people can find out more about the countryside, agriculture and the way their food is produced.

"Also included in the site is a list of farms to visit, which is broken down into regions.

"Although it comes under the title Farms For Schools, these farms are open to anyone. Just give them a ring and arrange to pop down. There is a wide variety of farms open to the public, from arable to organic, and people are very welcome to go along and find out more."

There are a number of farms in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear included on the list and more information can be found at www.cobritishfarming. org.uk or from the National Farmers Union.