THE North-East regional director of the Country Landowners Association (CLA) says the importance of farming is being forgotten by the public.

Antony Haslam is urging those working in the industry to help convince people in towns of the benefits which farming brings.

His call, which he hopes will put pressure on the Government to improve living conditions for farmers, comes as the agricultural show season gets into full swing.

Mr Haslam said: "Thousands of townspeople will be visiting agricultural shows all over Durham and Northumberland and they may well have lost sight of the importance of farming to their daily lives.

"What our members put on the table is important to everybody. We all drink coffee, we all drink tea, but without the fresh milk produced by the dairy farmer it would not be the same. That is just one of the essential services delivered to homes across the country and it all starts on the farm.