Over 225 Open Farm Sunday events took place on farms of all types and sizes across Britain, from Jersey to Shetland, organisers have said.
Open Farm Sunday took place on Sunday, June 9 and marked the event’s 18th anniversary.
The initiative, managed by Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF), began in 2006 and aims to bring together the whole food and farming industry to put farming centre stage.
Open Farm Sunday manager, Annabel Shackleton, has thanked everyone who opened their gates and held on-farm events.
“It has been a truly tremendous celebration of the hard work that farming’s guardians of the Earth do day in day out to farm sustainably in harmony with nature. The feedback we’ve received has been phenomenal,” she said.
New research commissioned by LEAF ahead of Open Farm Sunday 2024 indicated that while 94% Britons think the work that farmers do is important, only 12% of the nation claim to be well informed about what farmers do for the countryside.
“Our survey findings demonstrate why an event like Open Farm Sunday is so important to our
industry and in contributing to the wider education of local communities,” Shackleton said.
“People have a healthy appetite to learn more about what farmers do in terms of land management, nature protection, environmental stewardship and food production.
“The most powerful voices to share their knowledge and experiences are those of farmers themselves and this year’s OFS activities have proved just that.”
The date for next year’s Open Farm Sunday has been confirmed as June 8, 2025.
