Medium sized, ticketed event based in the Worcestershire / Gloucestershire border.

Pro­mot­ing British Farming

I am proud of what we do on our farm par­tic­u­lar­ly with our live­stock. We are part of the Red Trac­tor Farm Assur­ance scheme and have sev­er­al foot­paths that cross over our land. Mem­bers of the pub­lic use these reg­u­lar­ly, see our stock and some of the work we do, but we are often too busy to stop and engage with them. Sign­ing up for Open Farm Sun­day has allowed us to give back to the com­mu­ni­ty, wel­com­ing them onto our farm, free of charge, for a fun fam­i­ly day out and to edu­cate them and their chil­dren about agri­cul­ture and food production.

The future of our industry

Open Farm Sun­day has also giv­en us the chance to high­light and pro­mote the var­ied career oppor­tu­ni­ties in the sec­tor, which is cru­cial now more than ever due to the employ­ment chal­lenges we are see­ing. Encour­ag­ing young chil­dren to vis­it the farm, to ignite their inter­est in farm­ing and show­case dif­fer­ent careers with­in the sec­tor, can only have a pos­i­tive knock-on effect for the future of British agriculture.

Tick­ets and technology

Since host­ing our first event we have evolved and adapt­ed. Last year, a real game chang­er for us was the use of the online tick­et­ing sys­tem, rec­om­mend­ed by Open Farm Sun­day. I’m not the most tech savvy but the help and guid­ance pro­vid­ed by Try­Book­ing was excel­lent and the process was straight for­ward, allow­ing us to mon­i­tor and lim­it the num­ber of peo­ple attend­ing. With the uncer­tain­ty around Covid-19 in 2021, it gave me piece of mind and helped man­age the flow of vis­i­tors, with 50 tick­ets per hour issued.

A lit­tle help 

With­out the sup­port from fam­i­ly and friends, host­ing Open Farm Sun­day wouldn’t be pos­si­ble. It’s a real team effort and each per­son plays their own role in mak­ing the day inter­est­ing and infor­ma­tive for vis­i­tors, from my mother’s fos­sil stand, where she dis­plays var­i­ous items found on the farm and explains the back­ground behind them, to our farm assur­ance stan­dards where we explain the impor­tance of traceability. 

Grow­ing recognition 

Five years on from our first Open Farm Sun­day event, we have reg­u­lar faces return­ing and often pre­vi­ous vis­i­tors will enquire to find out if an event will be hap­pen­ing again. Not only have we seen the pub­lic become inquis­i­tive, but the local farm­ing com­mu­ni­ty have also recog­nised our efforts and come along to show their sup­port. For us this is just as impor­tant, so they can see what ben­e­fit open­ing your farm gates can have on the indus­try, and it may even give them the con­fi­dence to get involved and open their own farm. 

Lis­ten to Tanya chat­ting about her event on the OFS Pod­cast, and oth­ers expe­ri­ences of host­ing OFS here!

Top tips

Help on the day: Don’t have doubts – just do it! Don’t turn down help and support from family, friends, local businesses and the community. More hands make light work. Have confidence around health & safety. Be prepared and make sure you have all the health & safety polices in place.

Resources: Smart signage. The LEAF Open Farm Sunday website is the go-to platform for helping to plan and prepare for an event. You can download a variety of signs to use on the farm from ‘do not enter’ to ‘disabled parking’, and even Wallace and Gromit style signs for handwashing. Don’t create more work for yourself, utilise the resources that are there.

Health & Safety: The LEAF Open Farm Sunday website is fantastic and has a vast number of complimentary templates including a really useful risk assessment, that you can use to make the process stress free. As soon as you have registered you will also receive a useful handbook that provides guidance.