Annabel Shack­le­ton, OFS Man­ag­er, says wel­com­ing vis­i­tors on farm doesn’t have to be complicated:

“It’s a mis­con­cep­tion that you need a block­buster bud­get and an army of vol­un­teers to host an event — that’s not the case. There is real scope to devel­op an Open Farm Sun­day for­mat that works for you and allows you to build your con­fi­dence by start­ing small. 

“We’d real­ly like to encour­age more farm­ers to dip their toes in the water. Putting on com­mu­ni­ty-focussed farm walks for small­er groups gives you a chance to tri­al Open Farm Sun­day in a way that’s man­age­able and fun for all. 

The Open Farm Sun­day Hand­book pro­vides a step-by-step guide to host­ing dif­fer­ent types of events, with prac­ti­cal guid­ance on con­trol­ling vis­i­tor num­bers through to risk assess­ments. Farms that reg­is­ter can also order free resources, pro­duced by LEAF and OFS spon­sors such as posters, sig­nage, gate ban­ners, ​‘ask me’ badges and give-aways for children.

From hedgerows and habi­tats with­in the land­scape, to soil health and bio­di­ver­si­ty (just to name a few) there are plen­ty of top­ics and activ­i­ties to engage and inspire visitors.

LEAF research shows that 62% of last year’s vis­i­tors report­ed they want­ed to hear more farm­ing stories. 

“We know that most farm­ers don’t con­sid­er them­selves ​‘heroes’, how­ev­er Open Farm Sun­day pro­vides a fan­tas­tic oppor­tu­ni­ty to com­mu­ni­cate your achieve­ments, high stan­dards and com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty,” adds Mrs Shackleton.

“Ener­gy and enthu­si­asm are the two most impor­tant fac­tors for deliv­er­ing a fun and mem­o­rable day. One in five vis­i­tors have nev­er vis­it­ed a farm before so what you con­sid­er ​‘every day’ activ­i­ties, are fas­ci­nat­ing and a whole new world to most people.”

Vis­it the OFS web­site to find out more about putting on an OFS event and the sup­port available.

For the full Press Release go here