Impor­tant things to remem­ber for your visit. 

We hope you have a fab­u­lous vis­it to a farm on Open Farm Sun­day. Here are some things to remember: 

• Think about the weath­er! If it’s fore­cast to rain, wear sen­si­ble footwear, such as welling­ton boots, stur­dy train­ers or walk­ing boots, and have you packed a coat or water­proof? Or sun­screen, sun­hat and plen­ty of water if it is set to be a hot day! 
• Check the date of the event you are plan­ning to vis­it — most events take place on Open Farm Sun­day, but some take place on dif­fer­ent week­ends in June. 
• Have you booked a tick­et? Not all events require you to book a place, but some do. Dou­ble check before you leave to avoid disappointment. 
• Most events are free to enter, how­ev­er some do ask for a small entry fee or dona­tion to char­i­ty. Oth­ers have free entry but charge­able activ­i­ties, and refresh­ments to pur­chase — dou­ble check the descrip­tion of the event you are plan­ning to attend to ensure you can make the most out of your day. 
• Take lots of pho­tos and send them to the OFS team at [email protected]. We would love to see how you found your day. 
• Fill out the OFS vis­i­tor sur­vey online after the event to tell us all about your day! 

There are infec­tions that can pass from ani­mals to humans, or be trans­ferred from one place to anoth­er by our footwear, cloth­ing, pushchairs, vehi­cles and touch­ing gates and fences. 

• Keep clean! Wash your hands thor­ough­ly with liq­uid soap and run­ning water, and dry them with paper tow­els, after touch­ing ani­mals, before eat­ing, and as you leave the farm. 
• At the end of your vis­it, ensure your footwear, cloth­ing, pushchairs, vehi­cles and hands are clean to reduce the risk of spread­ing bugs. 
• If a cud­dly toy is dropped dur­ing a vis­it, make sure its washed. If a dum­my is dropped make sure it is sterilised. 
• Preg­nant women need to take par­tic­u­lar care as bugs acquired from ani­mals can be harm­ful to them and their unborn baby — espe­cial­ly lambs. 
• Please do not feed any ani­mals on the farm. To pro­tect farm ani­mals and food secu­ri­ty from poten­tial dis­eases, farm ani­mals must only con­sume autho­rised feed. It is ille­gal to feed farm ani­mals food from your own house­hold or com­mer­cial kitchens, includ­ing veg­e­tar­i­an premises. 
• Please do not vis­it if you are feel­ing unwell, par­tic­u­lar­ly sick­ness and diarrhoea. 

Hand gels, wet wipes or soap and run­ning water? 

Do not rely on sani­tis­ing hand gels or wipes to pro­tect your­self or your chil­dren against germs that may be present in ani­mal dirt around the farm. Hand gels can­not remove con­t­a­m­i­na­tion in the man­ner that soap and water can. 

To reduce the risk of ill­ness, both adults and chil­dren should thor­ough­ly wash their hands using soap and run­ning water after they have han­dled ani­mals or touched sur­faces at the farm, and always before eat­ing or drinking. 

Guide­lines on vis­its to farms: 

1. Wash your hands thor­ough­ly with soap and run­ning water after you have touched ani­mals, fences or oth­er sur­faces in ani­mal areas 

1. Wash your hands thor­ough­ly with soap and run­ning water before eat­ing or drinking 

1. Remove and clean boots or shoes that might have become soiled, and clean pushchair wheels — then wash your hands thor­ough­ly with soap and water 

1. Super­vise chil­dren close­ly to ensure that they wash their hands thoroughly 

1. Eat and drink in des­ig­nat­ed pic­nic areas or cafes only 

1. Do not put hands on faces or fin­gers in mouths while pet­ting ani­mals or walk­ing round the farm 

1. Do not allow chil­dren to put their faces close to farm ani­mals or kiss the animals 

1. Do not eat or drink while touch­ing ani­mals or walk­ing round the farm. This includes not eat­ing sweets, crisps or chew­ing gum 

1. Don’t eat any­thing that has fall­en on the floor 

1. Do not use gels or wipes instead of wash­ing hands with soap and water. Gels and wipes do not remove the bugs found in dirt or on farms 

Although the risk of becom­ing unwell is very low in light of the mil­lions of farm vis­its every year there are occa­sion­al out­breaks of gas­troin­testi­nal dis­ease which are linked to vis­its to farms. Please keep clean and safe. 

Don’t for­get farms are work­ing busi­ness­es so please fol­low instruc­tions from the farmer and their helpers. Keep an eye on your chil­dren and help them to keep safe dur­ing your visit. 

What should I do if I feel unwell after a farm vis­it?

If you or any­one in your group feels unwell or has any symp­toms, for exam­ple is sick or has diar­rhoea with­in 2 weeks of vis­it­ing a farm, con­tact your GP or call NHS 111 as soon as pos­si­ble. If you or any­one in your group, par­tic­u­lar­ly a young child, has bloody diar­rhoea, seek imme­di­ate emer­gency med­ical attention. 

Any­one who has expe­ri­enced sick­ness or diar­rhoea after vis­it­ing a farm could pass the ill­ness on to oth­ers, so they should not attend work, school or nurs­ery until they have been free of symp­toms for at least 2 days. How­ev­er, with infec­tions from some bugs, extra tests may be need­ed to ensure they have ful­ly recov­ered and will not pass on the infec­tion to oth­ers before start­ing back at work, school or nurs­ery. Peo­ple who han­dle food, chil­dren under 5 years and those who work close­ly with peo­ple who may be vul­ner­a­ble to infec­tions should dis­cuss with their GP or local health pro­tec­tion team before return­ing to work, school or nursery.