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Benefits of opening your farm gates on Open Farm Sunday
Why Open Farm Sunday matters for trust, resilience and farming’s future.
As farming responds to environmental challenges and shifting public expectations, the way farmers connect with society is evolving too.
Many producers are finding that opening up about what happens on farm and why, helps shape understanding, builds mutual trust, and creates space for farmers’ voices to be heard by the people they feed.
Public engagement isn’t about telling a perfect story. It’s about honest conversations that help people understand how food is produced, the decisions farmers make and the challenges they face.
Direct engagement cuts through the noise and ensures farmers are in control of their story.
That’s why Open Farm Sunday, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on 7 June, is a valuable opportunity for farmers to deepen relationships with their local communities.
Over two decades the initiative has shown how simple, face-to-face conversations can shape understanding at scale, and how one day can often spark a wider journey of connection.
© Aerial Dimensions
What is Open Farm Sunday?
Open Farm Sunday is a nationwide annual event organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), giving the public an opportunity to visit working farms.
By opening their gates, farmers share how food is grown, how animals are cared for, and how farming works alongside nature.
The event helps build understanding and trust between farmers and consumers. This year on 7 June, it will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Why public engagement matters now
There is genuine growing public interest in food and farming, yet for many it remains distant.
People are asking questions not just about where food comes from, but how it’s produced and the standards behind the labels.
Visiting a farm and meeting the people behind our food provides the clarity consumers want.
As LEAF CEO David Webster highlighted at the recent Open Farm Sunday anniversary launch, “resilient food systems depend not only on innovation in the field, but on openness and shared responsibility across the supply chain.
For supply-chain partners, Open Farm Sunday offers a credible way to support transparency and shared values – because these interactions are part of the social infrastructure that supports farming through change.”
© Aerial Dimensions
Open Farm Sunday: a practical starting point
Since 2006, almost 3.5 million people have visited farms on Open Farm Sunday. Its impact is clear.
Last year, 94% of visitors reported greater insight into nature-friendly practises, alongside 92% stating increased trust in British food and farming.
Those numbers matter – but so do the conversations behind them. Open Farm Sunday works because it is human, accessible, and flexible.
Whether a farm opens for a full open day or hosts a small farm walk, each event provides a supportive, low-pressure way to engage with public.
Simply walking the route of footpaths across your farm and explaining to visitors how the land is managed is a great way to get involved for farmers that may feel unsure where to begin.
© Aerial Dimensions
Beyond the day
Engagement doesn’t stop at Open Farm Sunday. Across the country, farmers connect with the public year-round through sharing their experiences and perspectives across digital channels, community events and school visits.
LEAF’s education work plays a key role in supporting this.
By producing curriculum-linked resources, training farmers, and working directly with teachers and pupils, young people are developing a more informed relationship with food, farming and the environment.
These repeated points of contact help people see the positive action already under way across the sector, understand the role of nature in building resilience, and see agriculture as an industry full of skill, innovation and opportunity. Stories from the field show the long-term value of this approach.
For Andy Bason, LEAF Demonstration and OFS host farmer in Hampshire, opening the farm gate is a powerful way to empower consumers to have a positive impact year-round.
“It’s a great way to show the public what farmers are doing, and why making informed choices about where food comes from matters,” he says.
These connections exist because farmers took that first courageous step and discovered the hidden value of opening their gates and sharing their farming story with visitors.
© LEAF
From the field
Like many farmers, Amelia Greenway, an organic livestock farmer at Springwater Farm in Devon, initially felt daunted by the thought of taking part in Open Farm Sunday, but in her heart she knew it was the right thing to do.
As a new entrant tenant farmer juggling the day-to-day demands of the business, taking on something extra felt like a lot to handle, “It felt like another thing to get right,” she recalls.
What helped shift that feeling was realising they could shape the day around their farm and their capacity.
“It’s your story, your farm,” Amelia says. “Once I realised it could be as big or as small as I wanted, that took the pressure off.”
Amelia made the most of the support available from reading the OFS handbook and joining webinars, through to speaking with the OFS team.
On the day itself, the response from visitors exceeded expectations. They arrived curious and engaged, eager to understand how the farm operates.
“People were genuinely interested in what we do and why,” Amelia says.
Explaining their animals, systems, and approach in their own words made the day far more meaningful than she had anticipated.
Selling meat direct and involving local traders, also reinforced the farm’s presence in the local area.
Amelia says, “For me, it was really important to get our consumers on side and give back to local businesses.”
Feedback forms and social media posts showed that these interactions had a lasting impact on both visitors and the farm, highlighting the value of openness and visibility.
Looking back, what stayed with Amelia most was the happy atmosphere.
“Seeing the smiles, the social media tags, the compliments – even my husband who was initially reluctant to take part, couldn’t stop smiling!”
Their experience shows that when engagement fits the farm’s pace and priorities, it can be both practical and enjoyable – allowing farmers and visitors to connect in deeper, more memorable and meaningful ways.
Thinking about taking part?
Whether you’re curious, cautious or ready to get started, there’s plenty of support available:
- Learn more about Open Farm Sunday and how it works
- Join a free webinar or training day, and have your questions answered
- Hear from experienced host farmers – explore case studies and real-world experiences
- Browse our FAQs for practical answers to common questions
- Explore more about LEAF’s education and public engagement activities
- Get in touch to discover what could work best for your farm.
Confidence is often the biggest barrier to public interaction.
Time pressures and fear of criticism are common concerns too, yet experience shows visitors aren’t seeking perfection – it’s all about the opportunity to meet a real farmer and hear about the story behind their food.
Engagement can transform farm life too.
Farmers often describe how explaining their farming practices clarifies their own thinking, strengthens decision making, opens new opportunities, and reconnects daily choices with the bigger picture.
Many farmers also report personal benefits, from renewed pride in their work to a stronger sense of purpose during challenging periods.
These experiences show that public engagement doesn’t just benefit those beyond the gate; it can strengthen resilience and wellbeing within it too.
Support, training and peer-to-peer learning make a real difference.
Farmers don’t have to figure it out alone, LEAF is there to provide guidance every step of the way.
Whether through structured sessions, one to one support, farmer networks, or tips from peers, engagement can be learned, shared, and adapted to suit each farm.
Small steps, taken in a manageable way, grow into lasting confidence.
Jason and Amelia Greenway, Springwater Farm, and their OFS event helpers. © Aerial Dimensions
An open invitation
Public interaction isn’t about box-ticking.
It’s about helping people see what sustainable farming involves, fostering trust through transparency, and strengthening the relationships and community connections that underpin resilient food systems.
Open Farm Sunday invites farmers to take part, offering a positive and practical opportunity to share your farm and your story with the public.
Engagement takes many forms, but at its heart it’s about something simple: when people learn about where their food comes from and how it is grown, we lay the foundations for a more informed, resilient and sustainable future.
One where people understand that the food choices they make have a real connection to the planet.
Provided by
LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) is a charity that promotes and supports more sustainable farming to create a resilient food and farming system for future generations.
We connect: We connect farmers, innovators and industry to understand best practice sustainable farm management and how it can be applied most effectively to each farm’s unique situation.
We build trust: We provide assurance that growers are farming more sustainably through our independently audited LEAF Marque certification; from the health of their soils to how they engage with local communities.
We educate: Our team of qualified educational specialists work with schools, citizens and farmers across the UK to bring sustainable farming to life, both in schools and on-farm. LEAF promotes more regenerative farming through Integrated Farm Management (IFM). It is a whole farm business approach that uses the best of modern technology and traditional methods.