YFC members’ cure for impotency
Farmers Guardian has come under fire for publishing a spread of young farmers partying at their annual conference dressed as nuns and nurses in black PVC.
The National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs claims the double-page spread, headlined “We want to have fun and we’re gonna get wasted”, is bad for its image and could affect its government funding.
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Farmers Guardian described the party as the “highlight” of YFC’s calendar where “a large number of nurses with oversized breasts could be found on the dance floor”. Among the pictures were girls wearing T-shirts with graphic diagrams showing how they could cure impotency in 60 seconds. The YFC is understood to be outraged and is in the process of writing a letter of complaint. A source said there were fears it could affect the organisation’s funding from DEFRA. They claimed the paper had shown “sympathetic discretion” in the past and the spread was a sign of it dumbing down. A YFC spokeswoman said: “We have concerns about the spread and the implications and we’ll be approaching the paper directly.”
Allan Prosser, acting editor of Farmers Guardian, branded the allegations “nonsense”.
“I heard some officials are nervous because of their funding from DEFRA but no one has spoken directly to us, in fact the feedback we had from the farming community was how much they enjoyed the coverage.”
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Farmers Guardian devoted two pages to the party, two pages to the conference and a leader comment. “That in our view is a fair balance,” he said.
“Those photographs are not outrageous. They are straightforward party pictures of the kind you would see at many conferences. You certainly see worse than that on TV.”
By Ruth Addicott
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