Open Farm Sunday launches extensive farmer support programme
4th January 2026
Next year, Open Farm Sunday celebrates 20 years of connecting people with sustainable farming and food production. To inspire even more farms to take part next year, event organiser LEAF has developed a comprehensive support package for all host farmers.
New for 2026 is a series of sector-specific webinars featuring experienced Open Farm Sunday hosts, as well as members of the LEAF team, providing valuable insights and top tips to encourage others to get involved and open their farms to their local community.
Farmers are invited to register to join the webinars live and get their questions answered:
- Beef and sheep – 13th January 12pm – 1pm
- Arable – 28th January 11am – 12pm
- Fruit and vegetable – 5th February 12pm – 1pm
- Dairy – 11th February 12pm – 1pm
- Plus, health, safety and insurance – 24th February 12pm – 1pm
Additionally, LEAF is organising two in-person training days for potential and seasoned hosts to take a deeper dive into logistics and explore creative activities to engage visitors on the day. Delivered by the Open Farm Sunday team, LEAF education specialists and experienced host farmers, these events are a great networking opportunity for our community of host farmers.
The first training day in Lancashire on Wednesday 18th March takes place at Huntapac Produce near Preston. The second is in East Sussex on Tuesday 24th March at Strawberry Hill Farm. Both in-person events are free to attend, running from 10.30am to 3.30pm.
Open Farm Sunday manager, Annabel Shackleton, believes LEAF’s new support programme will give farmers the skills and confidence to run safe, enjoyable and rewarding events.
“Our new webinars and training days are a fabulous addition to the core support available to all Open Farm Sunday host farmers, including the 2026 Host Farmer Handbook, free resources to promote events and use on the day, and the OFS team who are available to talk through events, answer questions and help all our wonderful host farmers along their OFS journey.
“By working together, we want to highlight Open Farm Sunday as a unique chance to connect local communities, celebrate sustainable farming and build trust and pride in our industry,” she added.
Take part in 20th anniversary celebrations
Open Farm Sunday will take place on 7th June 2026, marking two decades as the UK’s leading on-farm event that connects people with farming and helps them value sustainably produced food.
In 2025, 86% of farmers who took part in Open Farm Sunday wanted to promote a positive view of British agriculture, while 80% wanted to positively connect with their local communities.
The organisers said that there is appetite for greater connection on both sides, with recent LEAF research revealing that 9 in 10 young people believe the public should appreciate and have a better connection to where our food comes from. This makes Open Farm Sunday the perfect platform to educate, engage and inspire the next generation, they added.
LEAF is calling on farmers across all sectors – arable, livestock, horticulture, dairy, mixed and specialist enterprises – to be part of the 20th anniversary celebrations and welcome visitors to their farm next June.
Visit the Open Farm Sunday website for more information, to book your space at the webinars and training days, and to register Open Farm Sunday events.
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