COUNTRYFILE has sparked an almighty backlash among viewers who have branded one of the show’s latest scenes “sadistic”.
The viewer fury on the BBC show came as host Tom Heap headed to Welshpool in Wales to catch-up with dairy farmer Fraser Jones about life on his “mega farm”.
Within moments of Tom speaking to Fraser, fury from fans began to mount after they lashed out at his controversial way of looking after the cows he kept on his farm.
In the episode, hundreds of cows could be seen lurking in the background and each kept to their own pen inside a purpose-built building on the farm.
Tom was quick to ask the farmer: “The cows that are here, do they ever see grass, put a foot in the field?”
The farmer confirmed that the animals were kept to their own pens “all year round”.
It forced Tom to jump in and ask: “Are you happy with that?”
Farmer Fraser replied: “I’m very happy with that, it gives us better control.
“Cows like consistency so they have a specific diet to meet all of their nutritional requirements.
“They’re eating the same everyday which then results in fewer health issues, so basically to me, the welfare here is good.”
The comments led to an outpouring of fury from viewers online who could not grasp the conditions that the farmer was keeping the cows in.
It saw one even compare their environment to “prison” as they lashed out in scathing tweets online.
One upset viewer said: “Poor cows, they look like they’re in prison… #countryfile.”
Someone else furiously echoed: “Completely agree with you. What a sadistic system!”
A third went on to suggest it was “wrong” as they penned: “#countryfile My eldest does not agree with Farms who keep their Cows and Chickens inside all the Time wrong she said, least the Farm we lived on was Old School.”
Before someone else insisted: “Keep our cows in fields #countryfile.”
It comes just weeks after fans were left raging at the overall state of the programme amid concerns over its dwindling quality.
Viewers have been increasingly branding episodes as “boring” after its 36-year streak on air.
