Get signed up for Open Farm Sunday

Farmers around the UK are being urged to sign up for this year’s Open Farm Sunday event on June 10.  Organiser LEAF say that more than 325 have already done so and the target is to have 500 host farmers. That would make it one of the biggest national farm open days anywhere in the world.     

The most active parts of the country, in terms of numbers of participating farmers, are the South West, South East and East Anglia, says LEAF. The Midlands and Yorkshire are also chalking up good numbers too.

LEAF is also keen to stress that farmers don’t have to put on a major event. It could be a few people from the village meeting in the farmyard at 11am and then being taken on a one-and-a-half-hour farm walk. So no need for catering, toilets or lots of signage.

Many farmers also worry that they don’t know how many of the public will come or that many more will turn up than they expected. One way to avouid that, says LEAF’s Roly Puzey, is to use special postcard flyers (available from LEAF) to drop through the letterboxes in the area you want to target.

For those who really can’t face running an event themselves this year, a good alternative is to ring up the nearest participating farmer and ask if you can help. That way, you can see what’s involved and then decide whether you want to have your own open day in 2008.

For more info, see the LEAF website. 

Tips from last year’s host farmers:                  

Why do we on Farmers Weekly think Open Farm Sunday is such a good initiative? See our blog about it on Food for Thought