Open Farm Sunday: opening new gates to new audiences
More than 200,000 visitors attended a farm on 9 June 2013 with seven in ten visiting for the first time. In addition, seventeen percent were first time visitors along with thirty percent of farms who were hosting for the very first time.
Following this year’s record Open Farm Sunday, organisers, LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) has released the results of farmer and visitor surveys, which emphasise just how important Open Farm Sunday continues to be in connecting consumers with farmers and the food they eat.
A record number of people headed to their local farm on the 9th June with overall attendance figures totaling just under 201,000; 365 farms opened their gates to welcome them. This represents an average of 550 visitors per farm – the highest yet for any Open Farm Sunday since this annual event began in 2006. Seven in ten people were attending their very first Open Farm Sunday event – helping to bring British agriculture to a new audience. In fact, 34,000 people (one in six of all visitors) were visiting a farm for the very first time and eighty percent of visitors reporting they learnt something new about farming on the day.
The results also show the growing interest in farmers getting involved in Open Farm Sunday. Three in ten host farmers were ‘first timers’, and only one in three are regularly open to the public. Farms of all types opened their gates, proving once again that Open Farm Sunday is the industry’s open day. A full range of activities took place to engage and inform visitors. 79% of farms had animals at their events for visitors to see. Other popular activities included: hosted farm tours (63%); static machinery displays (59%) and tractor and trailer rides (41% of farms).
Annabel Shackleton, Open Farm Sunday manager at LEAF, said: “Since Open Farm Sunday started in 2006, farmers have now welcomed well over one million visitors out onto farms. These results show that Open Farm Sunday continues to introduce agriculture to new audiences and remains as important as ever in raising the public’s understanding of farming and how their food is produced. All types of farms opened up from large arable farms in the east through to a hill farm on the Isle of Mull. Each event, whatever its size, gave consumers the opportunity to discover the story behind their food and the vital work farmers do. It was particularly pleasing to see that we continue to attract new farms that haven’t opened their gates before. The positive comments from farmers and visitors on our social media networks and in person really show why Open Farm Sunday is so critical in helping to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers.”
Annabel continued: “All this would not be possible without the support from our 2013 sponsors which included: Asda, Marks and Spencer, The Co-operative, Waitrose, Country Life butter, Frontier Agriculture, John Deere, LEAF Marque, National Farmers Union, Syngenta, Defra, Farmers Weekly plus AHDB (BPEX, Dairy Co, EBLEX, HDC, HGCA). We are looking forward to getting the results of the Open Farm Sunday 2013 Pollinator Survey soon, which was kindly sponsored by Cotswold Seeds.”
Open Farm Sunday’s reach also goes beyond the farm gate with extensive coverage for the agriculture industry in consumer media, generating 700 articles. Coverage in consumer media included: BBC Radio 2, Sunday Express, Independent, Daily Telegraph, MSN, AOL, Daily Star, Daybreak, Ffermio, Gurgle, Choice, Country Walking, The Green Parent, Great British Food, Saga, Delicious, Bodyfit, Woman’s Weekly, People’s Friend, County Life, and Yours. Significant increases in Twitter followers (67%) and Facebook fans (256%) extended the reach of Open Farm Sunday and helped further connect farmers and consumers.
Open Farm Sunday 2014:
The date for Open Farm Sunday 2014 is Sunday 8th June, and registrations will open on 1st December. In the meantime, LEAF are keen to hear from any farmers with feedback or suggestions for next year’s event. Farmers should contact Annabel Shackleton on 024 7641 3911.
Annabel Shackleton added: “There are still so many farmers that haven’t opened their gates on Open Farm Sunday, we hope the success of this year’s event will help persuade some of them to take part next year. We provide lots of help and support for farmers to make all events as successful as possible but if there’s anything more we could be doing we would like to know.”
Any organisations keen to sponsor Open Farm Sunday 2014 are also urged to contact Annabel Shackleton on 024 7641 3911.
For more information visit: www.farmsunday.org or follow @openfarmsunday on Twitter.
