As we pre­pare to leave the Euro­pean Union, it is clear that the farm­ing sec­tor will be great­ly impact­ed by this change. Smart, prac­ti­cal and rea­soned approach­es will be vital as we draw up a new UK Food, Farm­ing and Envi­ron­ment Pol­i­cy. Equal­ly impor­tant is the sup­port of those that need farm­ing most — the public. 

The future via­bil­i­ty of UK farm­ing relies on the pub­lic trust­ing and respect­ing what farm­ing deliv­ers. For this to hap­pen peo­ple need to feel tru­ly engaged with how their food is pro­duced and the coun­try­side around them. Strong pub­lic sup­port will lead to mar­ket demand, fair­er prices and favourable gov­ern­ment pol­i­cy. Which is why, nev­er before has it been so impor­tant to show­case farming’s vital role in grow­ing our food, con­tribut­ing to the econ­o­my, man­ag­ing the coun­try­side and enhanc­ing our nat­ur­al resource

LEAF’s Open Farm Sun­day, held this year on the 11^th June, enables us, as an indus­try, to come togeth­er to make our case and pro­vides a high­ly effec­tive way of engag­ing with the pub­lic. Over a quar­ter of a mil­lion peo­ple annu­al­ly now vis­it a farm on what is recog­nised as the indus­try’s open day. The day helps vis­i­tors under­stand the breadth, skills and diver­si­ty of the farm­ing indus­try and how it impacts on all our lives. Research shows it is hav­ing a huge impact on chang­ing people’s per­cep­tions of our industry. 

I am urg­ing all farm­ers to take part this year either by stag­ing their own event or help­ing a neigh­bour. Open Farm Sun­day is for every­one. Size is not impor­tant, whilst some farm­ers hold large open days, many events are a small pri­vate farm walk for an invit­ed audi­ence. Large or small, EVERY event matters. 

Open Farm Sun­day is our chance to show­case the pride we all feel in our farm­ing indus­try and all that it deliv­ers. We can­not be com­pla­cent. Please get involved. For more infor­ma­tion and to reg­is­ter an event vis­it www​.farm​sun​day​.org.

Car­o­line Drummond 

MBE Chief Exec­u­tive LEAF 

Click here to read this let­ter in Welsh.