Organisers of Open Farm Sunday have announced the event will be postponed until September due to the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) had planned to run the event on June 7, but now the event will instead take place on September 20.
In a statement, the organisation said it was taking the “inevitable, safe and sensible” decision to postpone this year’s event.
This decision has not been taken lightly and the organisation is fully aware of the implications and disappointment this may cause to host farmers and visitors.
“However, given the challenges that the whole country faces in the coming weeks and months, LEAF has been left with little choice but to postpone the event to later in the year,” it read.
Caroline Drummond, LEAF chief executive, said: “We have spoken to a number of our host farmers to understand the impact of postponing to later in the year.
“We are pleased with the positive response from our ever-enthusiastic farmers, many of whom have indicated that they would like to still host LEAF Open Farm Sunday 2020. Consequently, we have rearranged the date to September 20, 2020.
“We look forward to welcoming the public out onto farm at a different and interesting time of year to take pleasure from getting outside and celebrating farming, food and nature.
“We will continue to support farmers hosting events in September and to encourage the public to visit a farm and discover the world of farming.
LEAF would like to thank everyone involved with LEAF Open Farm Sunday for their patience and understanding at this time and would encourage anyone with any questions about this postponement to visit the FAQ page on our website or email the LEAF Open Farm Sunday team.”
