FRESH from appearing on Good Morning Britain, a Herefordshire farmer has helped to raise more than £900 for a rural lifeline.

Martin Williams, who runs an Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board monitor farm on the banks of the Wye at Fownhope was invited to speak at the harvest supper for farming charity, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution at Bromyard Rugby Club last week.

The talk followed his appearance on the popular breakfast program last month to debate the badger cull, telling hosts Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan and guest Brian May how his herd of beef cattle was decimated in 2009 by bovine tuberculosis.

The Herefordshire farmer said that it was subsequently untenable for him to remain a cattle farmer, and that he believes badgers contributed to the spread of the disease on his farm.

RABI regional manager Kate Jones said: “Martin was an excellent speaker, full of great stories. Talking to a farming audience was, however, very different to being up against Brian May on national TV.”

Around 80 guests attended the supper, which raised £932 for the charity, with entertainment provided by Herefordshire YFC members Ali Parker and Thomas Pritchard.