Join us for top tips and support!

Whether you are host­ing your first Open Farm Sun­day event or an expe­ri­enced host look­ing for new ideas, we have a fab­u­lous pro­gramme of Zoom webi­na­rs to sup­port you along your OFS jour­ney and to con­nect you with like-mind­ed host farm­ers and indus­try pro­fes­sion­als to bring inspi­ra­tion to your event. All our Zoom webi­na­rs fea­ture farm­ers shar­ing their OFS expe­ri­ence and sto­ries. All webi­na­rs are record­ed and uploaded here soon after the event – see below and reg­is­ter to join us.

Online Webi­na­rs:

Each Webi­nar will be 30 min­utes of pre­sen­ta­tions and dis­cus­sion, fol­lowed by 15 min­utes Q&A to get your ques­tions answered.

• Large Event, plan­ning and sup­port — 10^th Novem­ber @ 11:00am — 12:00pm
  • Think­ing about tak­ing your Open Farm Sun­day event to the next lev­el? This one-hour online ses­sion is all about how to wel­come more vis­i­tors while keep­ing your event safe, engag­ing and mem­o­rable. You’ll hear from expe­ri­enced hosts who suc­cess­ful­ly run large-scale OFS events, shar­ing their top tips, chal­lenges, and behind-the-scenes sto­ries. Reg­is­ter here.

• Sec­tor Spe­cif­ic Webi­nar: Beef and sheep — 13^th Jan­u­ary @ 12:00pm — 1:00pm
  • Are you a beef or sheep farmer think­ing about open­ing up for Open Farm Sun­day? Join us for this friend­ly, one-hour online ses­sion to hear from expe­ri­enced hosts about how they plan and deliv­er their OFS events. Reg­is­ter here.
    
• Sec­tor Spe­cif­ic Webi­nar: Arable — 28^th Jan­u­ary @ 11:00am — 12:00 pm
  • Think an arable farm has noth­ing to show the pub­lic? Think again!
    If you’ve ever con­sid­ered open­ing your farm for Open Farm Sun­day but won­dered what vis­i­tors could see, this ses­sion is for you. Join us for a relaxed, cof­fee-in-hand con­ver­sa­tion explor­ing how arable farms can show­case British farm­ing at its best — from crops and machin­ery to wildlife and farm­ing with nature. You’ll hear real-life exam­ples and prac­ti­cal ideas to inspire your own event. Reg­is­ter here.
    

• Sec­tor Spe­cif­ic Webi­nar: Fruit and Veg­etable — 5^th Feb­ru­ary @ 12:00pm — 1:00pm
  • We’re all encour­aged to eat more fruit and veg­eta­bles, but we need con­sumers to under­stand and val­ue the work that goes into pro­duc­ing them. In this webi­nar, you’ll find out some sim­ple, cre­ative ways to share your sto­ry with vis­i­tors on Open Farm Sun­day. Reg­is­ter here.
    

• Sec­tor Spe­cif­ic Webi­nar: Dairy — 11^th Feb­ru­ary @ 12:00pm — 1:00pm
  • Not sure what to share with vis­i­tors on your dairy farm? In this one-hour ses­sion, hear direct­ly from farm­ers who have opened their gates for Open Farm Sun­day. Reg­is­ter here.

• Sec­tor Spe­cif­ic Webi­nar: Health, Safe­ty and Insur­ance — 24^th Feb­ru­ary @ 12:00pm — 13:00pm
  • From risk assess­ments to vis­i­tor safe­ty tips, you’ll leave this webi­nar with the con­fi­dence to run a safe, com­pli­ant, and enjoy­able event for every­one. Our team will give an overview of key con­sid­er­a­tions on keep­ing your farm safe on Open Farm Sun­day, and we’ve invit­ed an insur­ance bro­ker to talk through how to get the right cov­er in place. Reg­is­ter here.

Can’t wait? Check out last year’s webi­na­rs on our YouTube chan­nel, or if you want to talk through your Open Farm Sun­day event today, get in touch: OpenFarmSunday@leaf.eco Tel: 02476413911 — more con­tact details are here.

In-per­son Host Farmer Meetings

Our in-per­son meet­ings are pipeline. Hold on and keep your eye out on this page, and we will let you know as soon as possible.

Share your support!

Encour­age your farm­ing con­tacts, friends and net­works to get involved and join in the OFS con­ver­sa­tions on social media:

• Twit­ter: @openfarmsunday #OFS25
• Face­book: @LEAFopenfarmsunday
• Insta­gram: @openfarmsunday

Top tips from our expe­ri­enced hosts:

Rebec­ca Dawes — Scotland 

“Nev­er be afraid to ask for help, it is such a reward­ing day for every­one involved. Your vet, local feed mer­chant, machin­ery deal­er, agron­o­mist or farm advi­sor could give a small talk about what they do and maybe bring a few props like ani­mal feed or wheat seed. A ​“Farmer Ques­tion Time” always goes down well at our event, where local farm­ers each vol­un­teer to do a 15-minute slot to answer questions.”

Anne Mair-Chap­man — OFS Ambas­sador, North East 

“Make your event fun, friend­ly and for­get the farm­ing jar­gon! After the year we’ve all had, your event needs to feel like a bit of light relief in the fresh air. An infor­mal intro­duc­tion as peo­ple arrive is some­times all it takes to get the ques­tions going — remem­ber your audi­ence and think of oth­er ways to describe the work you do, farm­ing terms are not always self-explanatory!”

Rona Amiss — OFS Ambas­sador, South West 

“Get lots of help from neigh­bours, friends and any­one else you can think of! It makes it much more fun and every­one enjoys themselves.”

Helen Chap­pell — North West 

“This is the year to host! The pub­lic are want­i­ng to con­nect with farms and the envi­ron­ment — not just to learn about the farm­ing life but also for the health and well­be­ing ben­e­fits. The sup­port and guid­ance is eas­i­ly acces­si­ble and the ambas­sadors are here to help. The gen­er­al pub­lic are just as appre­hen­sive as the farm­ing com­mu­ni­ty, but they too are deter­mined to embrace the new nor­mal, Covid safe way of doing things.”

Andy Guy — OFS Ambas­sador, Midlands

“Plan ahead.
The most suc­cess­ful events are those where the hosts have planned for every even­tu­al­i­ty. Think about car park­ing, helpers and vol­un­teers, health and safe­ty, activ­i­ties for kids and fam­i­lies, pro­mo­tion and what you can do if it rains. If its all sort­ed before the big day you will have a stress-free event.

On the day.
Brief your helpers in advance so every­one knows what they are doing and what your vis­i­tors can see and do. Once the first vis­i­tors start to arrive all you need to do is acti­vate your plan and enjoy the day! If you’ve planned well and have con­tin­gen­cies for things like weath­er it should all go smoothly.

After the event.
Thank your helpers, tidy up and crack open a beer/​cup of tea and relax. Share mem­o­ries of the day with your helpers, update your Face­book page with some pho­tos and start think­ing about the next one!”

If you would like to talk through your Open Farm Sun­day event ideas now, get in touch with the Open Farm Sun­day team: OpenFarmSunday@leaf.eco or call 02476413911.