John Deere supports Open Farm Sunday 2013
John Deere is once again the exclusive machinery sponsor for Open Farm Sunday, which this year takes place on June 9th 2013, with the theme ‘Discover the story behind your food’.
Yorkshire farmer Alistair Nelson talks about farm machinery to a group of Hull schoolchildren at Molescroft Farms in Beverley (photograph by Jerome Whittington/Photomoments).
Organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), Open Farm Sunday is the industry’s annual event that gives everyone across Britain a chance to meet the farmers who grow their food and care for the countryside.
“I think it’s very important that people see all aspects of farming, and they have a much greater understanding as a result,” says OFS host farmer John Whitby of Rowley Farm, near Slough. “If you are proud of and enthusiastic about what you do, you have a great story to tell that visitors will be keen to hear – they’ll go away having had a good day out and their view of farming will have improved.”
Gordon Day, John Deere Limited agricultural & turf marketing manager for the UK and Ireland, adds: “Education and care for the environment are two of the company’s key guiding principles underpinning our business activities as the world’s leading manufacturer of agricultural, turf, forestry and construction equipment.
“Open Farm Sunday provides an ideal opportunity to show a wider public audience how advanced farming technologies are being applied to the benefit of farming, efficient food production and sound environmental management, including the reduction of harmful emissions. We also see the event as a way of encouraging young people to consider a challenging and worthwhile career in farming and agricultural engineering.”
Many John Deere staff will be out on farms on June 9th, helping host farmers and talking to visitors about John Deere’s advanced technology and its role in helping farmers to produce quality food with care for the environment. The company is also encouraging its farming customers to open their farms on the day, and join around 200 who have already committed to doing so this year.
Open Farm Sunday started in 2006, since when nearly 1 million members of the general public have visited UK farms and learnt first hand about practical farming. Typical events include tours of the farm and explanations of what it produces, displays of tractors, machinery and animals, children’s attractions and competitions, local produce and product tastings, arts and crafts, and refreshments from tea and cakes to BBQs.
For further details of this year’s Open Farm Sunday, visit the event website at www.farmsunday.org