Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Open Farm Sunday increases consumer trust in British farming

More than 250 farms across the UK took part in this year's Open Farm Sunday.
More than 250 farms across the UK took part in this year's Open Farm Sunday.

More than four-fifths of those who visited farms as part of this year’s Open Farm Sunday initiative have increased their trust in British farming, figures show.

Open Farm Sunday, which is organised by Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), is often described as the farming industry’ annual open day.

LEAF said figures from this year’s event, which was staged last month, show 175,000 people visited farms this year, of which 20% were visiting a farm for the first time.

The figures also revealed 52% of those visiting farms were from urban areas, and 49% said the visit had inspired someone in their group to consider a career in farming.

A survey of visitors found 85% said Open Farm Sunday had increased their trust in British farming, 79% had learned something new about British food or farming, and 72% said they felt the farming industry was adapting to help combat climate change.

Just over half of farm visitors – 56% – said the visit had positively changed their opinion of food production or the farming industry.

More than half of those visiting farms this year were from urban areas.

Open Farm Sunday manager Annabel Shackleton from LEAF thanked the 251 farmers from across the UK who had opened their gates to members of the public for the event.

“Farmers are being hit hard by labour shortages and soaring costs, and the fact they have still jumped at the chance to showcase British farming is testament to their commitment and passion when it comes to sharing their story,” said Ms Shackleton.

“It has been wonderful to read comments from visitors who care deeply about how their food is produced and are interested in wider issues around sustainability, climate change and animal welfare.”

She said the survey results from this year’s farm visitors showed the power of Open Farm Sunday in connecting people – from both urban and rural areas – to where their food comes from, how it is produced and the farmers who make it all happen.

“Open Farm Sunday provides a unique channel through which we can all unite to showcase our industry, ignite interest from the public and harness their support for our industry and all it delivers,” added Ms Shackleton.

Next year’s Open Farm Sunday event will take place on June 11 and farmers wishing to take part can register their interest at www.farmsunday.org

Conversation