I have long been of the view that the BBC should be privatised, with the resulting root-and-branch clean-out – and my experiences of last Sunday have done nothing to change my mind.

Last week I was contacted by a producer from BBC South West and asked if, as Farming Editor of the WMN, I would take part in a discussion group on rural issues, including the hunting ban, which was to be transmitted live for the Politics Show from Exford on Exmoor.

I agreed and we duly drove up from our home in Cornwall.

On arrival, though, we discovered the programme would consist of questions to two Parliamentary candidates, one Labour and one Lib Dem, and would, in fact, be entirely about the hunting ban.

So my question on bovine TB and diseased badgers, and questions from others on subjects as wide ranging as the live export of horses for meat and cost sharing in farm-animal disease control measures were completely ignored.

In the absence of any Conservative candidates – who, I am told, were only asked at very short notice, when they were already involved elsewhere – or the Countryside Alliance, who had decided not to attend, it was a very skewed affair in favour of the hunting ban remaining, a largely one-sided 15-minute lost opportunity to examine much more vital issues, if only in brief.

So my wife and I wasted our Sunday, travelled nearly 200 miles for no purpose whatsoever – and the churlish BBC did not even have the courtesy of providing us with a snack lunch, apologise or thank us for turning up. No doubt the 10 or so BBC team who were evidently necessary for the whole charade enjoyed a good feed at the expense of licence payers.

New for 2010, Leaf (Linking Environment And Farming) is launching an online workshop, at www.farmsunday.org, for farmers interested in opening their farm to the public on Open Farm Sunday 2010, which is June 13.

The online workshop provides practical advice on how to hold a successful Open Farm Sunday event.

It features farmers offering guidance, suggestions and valuable tips for opening a farm, including health and safety considerations and activity ideas too.

Open Farm Sunday, now in its fifth year, helps the public discover and understand the story behind their food, and the dedication and skill of farmers who produce it. The manager of Open Farm Sunday, Tom Allen-Stevens, said: "Holding an Open Farm Sunday event is a very rewarding experience. Events needn't be complicated to arrange and can be on a scale to suit the farmer and the farm. Whether large or small, invitation-only, or open to everyone, it's a fantastic opportunity for farmers to engage with their local community and communicate the excellent work they do to produce the food we all eat."

Anyone planning to host an event is being encouraged to register as soon as possible. Mr Allen-Stevens told me: "Resource packs started to be sent to host farmers before Easter. To ensure a successful event, farmers are urged to start putting plans in place now."