Farming specials commissioned for Horse & Country TV

One of Britain's top broadcasters – Jonathan Dimbleby, presenter of BBC Radio 4's flagship Any Questions – will be conducting a fortnightly one-on-one interview with a leading farming personality in a program specially commissioned for the new Sky Channel, Horse & Country TV.

The channel launches on Monday July 2, and the first interview will be aired that night at 2030. It will then alternate weekly with the newly commissioned Rural Matters series.

Producers are remaining tight-lipped about who will be in the hot seat for the first interview, but promise to deliver a well-known figure.

As the launch date nears, more details of the channel's programming are being released. There will be live coverage from the Royal Show, shot throughout the event, plus an hour-long special on the event's showcase conference which, through a series of daily seminars, will deliver over 20 speakers from numerous market sectors to debate sustainable energy options for tomorrow's farmers.

There will also be a regular Farming Sunday slot, sponsored by Farmers Weekly, with links to the website for viewers' comments and questions.

Future plans include a 'year in the life' of a group of agricultural college students as they progress up the rungs of the farming ladder, and some 'pasture to plate' specials where the channel will take a look at how the complete food chain operates – from the birth of a calf to the roast beef dinner on your table, for example.

"We are very excited by the speed at which the farming input into Horse & Country TV is growing," says head of production and program acquisition, T Watts.