Farming is in the spotlight more than ever before

  • Lucy Nott and her hus­band, a sixth-generation farmer, live on a 100ha arable farm in Worcestershire with their two children. With an aspiration to transition their farm to a regenerative system, they were keen to share their farming story with the public and opened their farm for LEAF Open Farm Sun­day for the first time in 2021.

“Our industry is in the spotlight and on the news more than ever before. If you find yourself regularly shouting at the TV over agricultural miscommunications, then LEAF Open Farm Sunday (LOFS) could be for you. LOFS gives you a once-a-year opportunity to open your farm gates to your local community and showcase your farm and your story.

“We choose to open our farm for LOFS as it keeps us familiar with welcoming the public onto the farm and practising the necessary systems to do so. It is an opportunity to keep our farm’s name in the minds of our local community and keep people familiar with visiting our farm. This PR is invaluable for any future diversifications. We also took the opportunity to advertise our school visits (which we do through Educational Access on our CS scheme) and, as a result, booked several visits with new schools.

“Through my ambassador role, I have supported farms who have direct sale diversifications and the feedback is always that they have found LOFS an invaluable opportunity to show their customers the farm-fork process behind their products. If you plan ahead, a LOFS event can be a key part of your marketing strategy.

“Your LOFS event doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated, a simple farm walk with a tea and cake stall, or opportunity to picnic at the end, will delight your visitors and provide an engaging experience. As a 100ha arable farm, we were worried that visitors would not be interested in our farm because we have no livestock, but that was not the case. Our visitors were fascinated and were amazed at how we farmed in harmony with nature, supported our environment and maintained the community’s much-loved footpaths.”

LEAF Open Farm Sunday takes place on Sunday 11 June 2023. To find out more or register an event, visit www.farmsunday.org. Events can also take place throughout June, with a wide range of free resources available to any farm that registers.