FARMERS ARE being encouraged to welcome the public into the safety of the countryside this June – and help promote Britain's food and farming story in the process.

On Sunday, June 27, LEAF Open Farm Sunday (LOFS) returns and will celebrate 15 years of welcoming the public on to farms as part of the industry’s annual open day.

Interest in food production and support for local producers is at an all time high off the back of the pandemic, making it more important than ever to harness this interest and continue to engage with the public and involve them in Britain's farming story.

Although lockdown has lifted and restrictions have eased on gatherings, the trend for this year's LOFS is for smaller events, with activities where visitors can manage their own learning, such as self-guided farm walks. Every farmer that takes part will still have full autonomy to decide on the type of event they would like to offer, for how long and for how many people.

 

LEAF Open Farm Sunday manager, Annabel Shackleton, explained: “We are actively encouraging more smaller events this year. A simple farm walk for 30 people is both rewarding and manageable for all involved. We know there may be some nervousness around Covid and we want to ensure both host farmers, and visitors attending, feel safe and confident to go ahead. As theatres, cinemas and dining indoors reopens, remember transmission rates are significantly reduced outdoors. The farming stage – our wonderful countryside – is the perfect venue to safely welcome visitors.”

There is also a greater emphasis on using a free ticketing system, such as TryBooking or Eventbrite, to record and manage visitor numbers with both systems offering an easy, automated solution.

 

The Scottish Farmer:

River Croft in Inverness-shire opened their doors to vistitors for the first time in 2017 

 

River Croft in Inverness-shire held their first LEAF Open Farm Sunday event in 2017 and in 2018 started using the ticketing service to effectively manage visitor numbers. Michelle Anderson-Carroll explained why it was so useful: “In 2018, we decided to use the LOFS ticketing system that LEAF offers (using Trybooking) and it really is brilliant! We set up two bookable tours but with a very manageable number of 35 visitors on each and promoted the link on Facebook. Both events were booked up quickly, but we also maintained a waiting list on the system. It really helped with knowing when people were arriving too.”

Opening your door to the public is an opportunity to build community connections and help raise awareness of all that farmers do to maintain the countryside, enhance the environment and produce our food. With more people accessing the countryside over the last year with international travel ground to a halt, LOFS is encouraging farmers to take the opportunity to raise public awareness of the Countryside Code and public access.

Ms Shackleton continued: "Recently there has been an increase in damage to grass and cereal fields that look bare to the un-informed and therefore deemed acceptable to walk on, but actually are home to our future food. LEAF Open Farm Sunday is an opportunity to explain why keeping to the designated footpath is so important, without causing conflict or negativity.”

Farmers do not need to be members of LEAF to take part, but they do need to register their event at www.farmsunday.org and will receive a comprehensive handbook and free resources. Central promotion will focus on June 27, but farmers can choose any Sunday in June to open their gates and still benefit from LOFS branding and resources.