LEAF Open Farm Sunday 2020 goes online

When lockdown was enforced in March, the organisers took the difficult decision to postpone LEAF Open Farm Sunday from 7th June to 20th September.

A spokesperson explained: “We have consulted widely with our host farmers, sponsors and supporters and, whilst there is the drive and enthusiasm to share our farming story with the public, there continues to be many concerns regarding hosting on-farm visits this year due to the continuing COVID-19 situation.

“After much careful consideration, taking into account farmer feedback and using other similar events and shows as guidance, we have taken the decision to cancel all face to face on-farm LEAF Open Farm Sunday events this September.

“ We are all looking forward to welcoming the public back on farm next year on Sunday 13th June 2021.

“Following the huge success of LEAF Online Farm Sunday this June, we are making plans to promote more virtual farm tours during the weekend of 20th September 2020. This will be an exciting opportunity to showcase the tail end of harvest, drilling and autumn calving alongside many other aspects of farm life which the public may never get the chance to see. More details to follow soon,” the statement added.

“We would like to thank our LOFS sponsors for their understanding and continued support to showcase the best of British farming to the public across the UK and further afield. Our 2020 LOFS sponsors are: AHDB, Arla Foods, Asda, BASF, Co-op, Defra, Farmers Weekly, Frontier Agriculture, John Deere, Kelloggs, LEAF Marque, NFU, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose.”