Tak­ing place on Sun­day 12^th June 2022, it is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for every farmer to plan their own event, engage their local com­mu­ni­ty, share their farm­ing sto­ry, dis­pel mis­con­cep­tions and give vis­i­tors a huge­ly pos­i­tive, mem­o­rable experience.

More than 100 events took place in 2021, under Covid-safe guide­lines, and pri­or to the pan­dem­ic over 350 farms across Britain, cov­er­ing all agri­cul­tur­al sec­tors, opened each year. 

Annabel Shack­le­ton, LEAF Open Farm Sun­day Man­ag­er explains the impor­tance of the event,

“Last year we launched our new 10-year strat­e­gy at LEAF, with a com­mit­ment to dri­ving more sus­tain­able cir­cu­lar agri­cul­ture through cli­mate, nature, the econ­o­my and soci­ety. In addi­tion, COP26, and the recent Nation­al Food Strat­e­gy has drawn atten­tion to the impact of farm­ing and food pro­duc­tion on cli­mate change. Whilst we have the public’s atten­tion, it is more impor­tant than ever that we feed their enthu­si­asm and interest. 

“LEAF Open Farm Sun­day is the per­fect way for vis­i­tors to real­ly under­stand what best prac­tice looks like and how farm­ers, and the food sec­tor are part of the solu­tion, deliv­er­ing for our health and the health of the plan­et — through the food we eat and the fresh air and coun­try­side that we enjoy.”

Every farm has some­thing of inter­est for vis­i­tors, whether it is talk­ing about land­scape and nature con­ser­va­tion, soil and water man­age­ment, grass, crop health and pro­tec­tion, ani­mal hus­bandry, ener­gy effi­cien­cies or diver­si­fi­ca­tion. A range of free resources are avail­able from LEAF and LOFS spon­sors to sup­port host farm­ers, includ­ing a host farm­ers’ hand­book, activ­i­ty crib sheets and tem­plate guides, for risk assess­ments and writ­ing a press release, plus guid­ance on using an online tick­et­ing ser­vice to man­age vis­i­tor numbers.

In addi­tion, a series of inter­ac­tive online Zoom meet­ings for farm­ers want­i­ng to find out more about host­ing an event this June, are being held on the 1^st Thurs­day of each month. Host­ed by the team of expe­ri­enced LEAF Open Farm Sun­day Ambas­sadors, top­ics cover:

• Feb­ru­ary 3^rd – Plan­ning and mar­ket­ing your LOFS event
• March 3^rd – Man­ag­ing vis­i­tor num­bers, includ­ing ticketing 
• April 7^th – Pro­mot­ing your event and mak­ing use of LOFS free resources 
• May 5^th – Final words of wisdom!

Annabel’s LOFS top tip is to keep it sim­ple, plan­ning the day based on what you have on farm,

“LEAF Open Farm Sun­day is YOUR event, YOUR sto­ry and YOUR chance to share it with the wider pub­lic. Con­cen­trate on what you feel com­fort­able shar­ing — you don’t need to talk about every enter­prise in the UK, nor open your whole farm. You have full con­trol to man­age what vis­i­tors see, how long you run your event for and who you invite. Some hosts hold a pri­vate event for a local group, whilst oth­ers are much more public.

“Most impor­tant­ly, enjoy the day! By com­ing togeth­er in June, we can demon­strate a very pow­er­ful mes­sage about the vital role that agri­cul­ture plays in ensur­ing our land­scape, peo­ple and econ­o­my remains healthy, now and for the future.”

Farm­ers do not need to be mem­bers of LEAF to take part, but they do need to reg­is­ter their event at www​.farm​sun​day​.org, where they can also access an infor­ma­tion pack and book to attend the Zoom meetings.

Top Tips for a first-time host farmer

1. Down­load the Infor­ma­tion Pack
   Vis­it www​.farm​sun​day​.org and down­load the Infor­ma­tion Pack which will help you get started.
2. Get in touch
   If you have any ques­tions get in touch with the LEAF Open Farm Sun­day team via 02476 413911 or email LOFS@leaf.eco. A range of expe­ri­enced LOFS Ambas­sadors are on hand to answer your ques­tions and talk through event ideas.
3. Start small
   Start with some­thing small like a farm walk for a lim­it­ed num­ber of peo­ple. You can always add in a few activ­i­ties for exam­ple, in a wheat field ask them to guess how many loaves of bread can be made from one metre square – LEAF has a data sheet with the answer!
4. Man­age vis­i­tor num­bers
   Con­sid­er using the LEAF Open Farm Sun­day (Try­Book­ing) tick­et­ing sys­tem to man­age vis­i­tor num­bers with timed tick­ets, along­side oth­er ben­e­fits such as con­tact­ing atten­dees before they vis­it with your event infor­ma­tion and what to expect on the day. This gives you added con­trol and con­fi­dence when plan­ning your day, whether it is for 20 peo­ple or 200.
5. Keep it short
   You don’t need to run the event for a whole day, a few hours is suf­fi­cient — just make sure you clear­ly adver­tise this on all your pro­mo­tion­al materials.
6. Reg­is­ter your event
   Vis­it www​.farm​sun​day​.org to reg­is­ter your event free of charge and once reg­is­tered you will receive a copy of the host farmer hand­book with lots of infor­ma­tion to sup­port your planning.
7. Col­lab­o­rate and plan
   Invite oth­er local farm­ers and friends to sup­port you. Even if you are host­ing a farm walk, writ­ing down some short notes will help ensure you don’t miss any­thing you want to share. Props are use­ful too and remem­ber to avoid jar­gon, you will be amazed how con­fused chil­dren can get when you say ​“we feed our sheep ​‘cake’”!
8. Keep it sim­ple
   Con­cen­trate on your sto­ry and what you feel com­fort­able shar­ing, you don’t need to tell the sto­ry of every type of farm in the UK. Work with what you have at your farm, every day farm activ­i­ties can cre­ate some of the most pro­found mem­o­ries for your vis­i­tors. Remem­ber LEAF Open Farm Sun­day is YOUR event, YOUR sto­ry and YOUR farm­ing expe­ri­ence.
   Join in the online con­ver­sa­tions:
   #LOFS22
   Twit­ter:@OpenFarmSunday
   Face­book: @ LEAFOpen­Farm­Sun­day
   Insta­gram: @OpenFarmSunday

You can read the full press release here.

Prin­ci­pal spon­sors of LEAF Open Farm Sun­day include: AHDB, Arla Foods, Asda, BASF, Co-op, Defra, Farm­ers Week­ly, Fron­tier Agri­cul­ture, John Deere, Kellogg’s, LEAF Mar­que, NFU, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.