Putting farm­ing in the pub­lic eye ​‘more impor­tant than ever’

Farm­ers across the UK are being encour­aged to help fos­ter greater appre­ci­a­tion for their vital role in food pro­duc­tion by reg­is­ter­ing to take part in Open Farm Sun­day on 8 June 2025. 

As the farm­ing industry’s annu­al flag­ship ini­tia­tive, OFS organ­is­er LEAF (Link­ing Envi­ron­ment And Farm­ing) is pro­vid­ing ongo­ing sup­port to host farm­ers to help them con­nect with con­sumers and pro­vide first­hand expe­ri­ence of the val­ue of farm­ing with nature.

The key to success

LEAF Edu­ca­tion spe­cial­ist, Sam Wyman, has trained and sup­port­ed numer­ous farm­ers to host OFS events over the years. He pro­vides reas­sur­ance that tak­ing part is both straight­for­ward and rewarding.

“Remem­ber what an amaz­ing resource your farm is when you look at it with a fresh per­spec­tive,” says Mr Wyman.

“Even the sim­plest items and tasks – like touch­ing some grain or hold­ing an EID tag – can be tru­ly eye-open­ing for vis­i­tors. You’ll get the most from your event by using a hand­ful of props that engage the sens­es and help you share your knowl­edge in bite­size pieces.”

Enjoy the feel-good factor 

Mr Wyman is clear about the farmer-focused ben­e­fits of pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for curi­ous con­sumers to vis­it local farms.

“Every­one I’ve ever worked with to host an OFS event is absolute­ly buzzing at the end of the day. Farmer’s take real pride in what they’re doing and that shines through. This enthu­si­asm is what piques people’s inter­est,” he adds. 

Strength­en pub­lic good­will and trust
Recent OFS data shows that 91% of vis­i­tors are moti­vat­ed to buy more British pro­duce after attend­ing. By giv­ing access and shar­ing sto­ries and exper­tise, farm­ers can direct­ly bridge the knowl­edge gap and rein­force the impor­tance of sup­port­ing local farming.

“With over 150,000 vis­i­tors attend­ing OFS events each year, the impact this ini­tia­tive has on the public’s under­stand­ing of sus­tain­able farm­ing is huge,” adds Mr Wyman. 

“They’re will­ing to learn, and clear­ly the best per­son to tell the sto­ry of British farm­ing is famers them­selves. Spread­ing that insight and encour­ag­ing appre­ci­a­tion for what farm­ers do, day-in-day-out is more impor­tant than ever.” 

Reg­is­ter today

Farm­ers can reg­is­ter their Open Farm Sun­day event at www​.farm​sun​day​.org and access a wide range of freely avail­able resources, includ­ing webi­na­rs and pro­mo­tion­al mate­ri­als to help make each event a success.

This year, OFS aims to cul­ti­vate con­nec­tions, edu­cate com­mu­ni­ties, and show­case the incred­i­ble role of farm­ers in pro­duc­ing food while regen­er­at­ing nature. Sign up to host an event on 8 June and be part of our OFS com­mu­ni­ty of host farm­ers that puts farm­ing cen­tre stage.

The LEAF Edu­ca­tion team share their five steps to host­ing OFS: 

• Ask for help – Don’t be afraid to request sup­port from your net­work. Vets, seed and feed mer­chants, or oth­er local clus­ter farms could all add their exper­tise. Don’t for­get, the LEAF OFS team and Open Farm Sunday’s spon­sors also pro­vide exten­sive FREE resources to help you. 

• Keep it sim­ple – Be real­is­tic and set expec­ta­tions to have a bril­liant OFS expe­ri­ence that feels man­age­able and reward­ing. If you feel com­fort­able host­ing 20 peo­ple on a farm walk, then stick to that plan. What­ev­er the size of your event, OFS rec­om­mend using a free online tick­et­ing ser­vice to man­age vis­i­tor num­bers and timings.

• Short and engag­ing sound­bites – Vis­i­tors come in mixed groups, so keep expla­na­tions to two to four min­utes per top­ic and tai­lor con­tent to your audi­ence. Encour­age them to par­tic­i­pate by ask­ing them questions.

• Inter­ac­tive props - Iden­ti­fy every­day objects or aspects of farm­ing that vis­i­tors can touch, see, and smell, as well as intro­duc­ing hands-on activ­i­ties, such as soil com­par­isons, worm charm­ing or a nature hunt to make learn­ing fun and accessible.

• Be your­self: The pub­lic appre­ci­ates authen­tic­i­ty. Sim­ply shar­ing what you do day-to-day is more than enough to inspire pub­lic good­will as well as raise aware of how farm­ers are farm­ing with nature.

For the full press release go here

With thanks to our Open Farm Sun­day prin­ci­pal spon­sors: AHDB, Arla Foods, BASF, Co-op, Defra, Fron­tier Agri­cul­ture, John Deere, LEAF Mar­que, M&S, McDonald’s, NFU, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose.