THE growing impact of farm visits in connecting the public with farming and food production has, once again, been demonstrated by this year’s LEAF Open Farm Sunday.
Publishing the results of the host farmer and visitor surveys today (1st August 2023), Annabel Shackleton, LEAF Open Farm Sunday Manager said:
“Experiencing farming first-hand, seeing the realities of food production and meeting with farmers face to face is having a huge impact, raising awareness of the world class production and welfare standards British farmers work to and all they are doing to address the climate crisis.”
“Going out onto farm gives people a fully immersive experience to see, touch, smell, hear and talk farming! Open Farm Sunday 2023 hosts have delivered some amazing, memorable on-farm events which have been so valuable building trust and understanding in British agriculture, and putting farming back in the heart of communities.”
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“The feedback from visitors has been incredible, demonstrating the value of Open Farm Sunday’s role in connecting consumers with food producers, and highlighting the importance of farming in meeting our climate change challenges.”
Commenting on LOFS, one visitor said:
“Fantastic experience, showing how farming can work in harmony with the environment to help feed the world.”
LEAF Open Farm Sunday took place on the 11th June with 257 farmers across Britain opening their gates, support by 5500 helpers and welcoming over 170,900 visitors.
Results from the post event visitor survey showed that 87% of visitors said that the farm visit had increased their trust in British farming and 41% reported that the farm visit had inspired someone in their group to consider a career in farming.
Reflecting on this year’s LEAF Open Farm Sunday, Carl Edwards, LEAF Director, Education and Public Engagement added:
“Once again, LEAF Open Farm Sunday offered thousands of people a fantastic opportunity to see farming first-hand, to see for themselves how their food is produced and meet the farmers making it all possible. We’ve been overwhelmed by all the support and incredible feedback from both visitors and farmers alike, which showcase the many benefits of connecting consumers with producers out on farm and the pure joy of taking part in farming’s annual open day. A huge thank you to everyone involved, in particular all our host farmers, their helpers and our sponsors.”
LOFS 2023 principal sponsors are: AHDB, Arla Foods, Asda, BASF, Coop, Defra, Farmers Weekly, Frontier Agriculture, John Deere, LEAF Marque, M&S, NFU, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Open Farm Sunday 2024 will take place on the 9th June. Farmers wishing to take part can register their event at: www.farmsunday.org
