1 / 9

362 farms hosted events - one overseas in Kenya

Key results for 12 June 2011. 362 farms hosted events - one overseas in Kenya 120,000 visitors – despite the driving wind and rain across much of Britain 60% of farms had 100+ visitors 17% of farms had 500+ visitors 4 farms had a staggering 3000+ visitors

joanna
Download Presentation

362 farms hosted events - one overseas in Kenya

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Key results for 12 June 2011 • 362 farms hosted events - one overseas in Kenya • 120,000 visitors – despite the driving wind and rain acrossmuch of Britain • 60% of farms had 100+ visitors • 17% of farms had 500+ visitors • 4 farms had a staggering 3000+ visitors • 25% increase in visitor numbers where the sun shonein the East of England and Scotland • 50:50 split urban/rural visitors • 97% of visitors rated their day as ‘good’, ‘amazing’ or ‘brilliant’ • 16 Host farmer workshops were held • 10 Open Farm Sunday Regional Co-ordinators

  2. About the farmers Host farmers’ main industry activity • 30% of host farmers were first timers • Increase in the number of farmsopening whose main industryfocus is dairy, horticulture, pigand poultry • The following gives the percentage offarms showcasing each industry areaat their Open Farm Sunday event: • 44% Arable 55% Beef • 19% Dairy 58% Sheep • 42% Pigs 44% Poultry • 27% Vegetables 20% Fruit • 19% Horticulture 60% Environmental Stewardship • 75% of farmers said their business had benefitted • Key benefits: Improved community relations Better community links Raised local profile Increased sales Better image for the industry Number of events perregion / nation: South West 86 South East 75 East of England 58 East Midlands 28 West Midlands 26 Yorkshire and Humber 28 North East 5 North West 21 Scotland 18 Wales 16 International 1

  3. Why farmers host events… “Improved local relations and increased local network contacts” “Just raising awareness of farming generally.We didn’t do it to benefit our business specifically.” “Local people went away with a betterunderstanding about how food is produced.” “We didn’t benefit financially but in good will” “Increased awareness of our produce and the values that we attribute to our livestock.” What the visitors say… “It poured with rain all day long but we had a fabulous day - the rain didn't dampen it at all!  Huge thanks to the team there for making the day so enjoyable.” “Useful, understandable advice dotted throughout the farm. Knowledgeable people to talk to on hand. A very enjoyable couple of hours.” "The demonstrations, displays, equipment and explanations were great. A wonderful opportunity to learn more about farming, the environment and the food chain from farm to fork. Our thanks to everyone gave their time to make the day such a success."

  4. About the visitors • 63% of visitors had never been to an Open Farm Sunday event before (over 75,000) • 8% fewer visitors from towns and cities compared with 2010 • 30% of visitors reported that they visited the countryside either ‘never’, ‘hardly ever’ or only ‘now and again’ showing that Open Farm Sunday reaches out to thousands of people not used to venturing onto farms • After visiting an event there was a clearshift in visitors’ understanding of farming and food production from ‘poor’ or ‘good’ to ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’

  5. 2011 theme: ‘Discover life on Britain’s farms’ Media campaign • There was a real buzz around this year’sOpen Farm Sunday campaign: • 645 pieces of media coverage • 217 million OTSH - opportunities to see and hear; versus 127m OTSH in 2010 • 71% increase in OTSH compared with 2010 • Four in ten pieces mentioned the website • Written into the ‘Archers’ storyline News video Hosted by BBC’s Countryfile presenter, Adam Henson, reached 40 million people; it was posted on the Mail Online

  6. Online Social Media • 100,000+ visits to the websitein the six week run up to12 June 2011 • Five times the number of hits compared with 2010 • www.farmsunday.org formed the communications hub for the campaign for both farmers and visitors • New host farmer registration section and improved search engine facility enabled visitors to search for a suitable farm to visit • Three new videos were added to the online workshop for host farmers • 40% increase in Twitter fans • 82 Twitter lists featured OFS with#ofs trending in parts of the countryon Open Farm Sunday itself • over 2800 followers

  7. Comprehensive resources Host farmer feedback… “What you and all the other supporting organisations sent us was first class, thank you!” “We are very grateful to all the sponsors for their support. It adds meaning and professionalism to the event to be supported by big names.” “Sponsors input VERY good and worthwhile“. “The sponsors are to be applauded - for us their resources are invaluable i.e. posters etc which are used for static displays about the crops grown on the farm.” “Used the resources provided by most of the sponsors either for display purposes or as handouts.” “We requested several bits of information and leaflets from sponsors which was great.” “Materials, support and advice from LEAF were excellent.” • 85% of host farmers made use of the free resources • The packs of supporting materials included publicity materials (posters, flyers, postcards, gate banner, direction signs), handbook, polo shirt, stickers, activity booklets and lots more. • New for 2011 was the ‘Discover More’ brochure featuring a number of British farmers giving visitors some key facts and figures about UK farming.

  8. 2011 sponsors Principal sponsors: Asda, Defra, Farmers Weekly, Frontier Agriculture, John Deere, LEAF Marque, Natural England, NFU, Syngenta, Waitrose, Warburtons Additional sponsors: DairyCo, EBLEX, Farm Stay UK, GrowHow, HGCA, Marks & Spencer, Wiggly Wigglers The new sponsors’ logos were developed and used by sponsors to acknowledge their support for Open Farm Sunday 2011. Government support from Caroline Spelman, Secretary of StateJames Paice,Food and Farming MinisterRichard Lochhead,Scottish Government Rural Affairs Secretary … plus a number of politicians visited local farms onOpen Farm Sunday Caroline Spelman visiting Dunnington Court Farmon Open Farm Sunday

  9. Open Farm Sunday is an established success story for the whole food and farming industry. It is a great opportunity to support British farmers to help them promote the vital work they do in producing the food we eat whilst caring for the countryside. We invite you to be a part of this successful campaign andlook forward to working with you in 2012 and beyond… Confirmed 2012 Principal Sponsors to date: For further information contact:Annabel Shackleton,Open Farm Sunday / Events Manager LEAF Tel: 024 7641 3911 Mob: 079 1246 3151 Email: annabel.shackleton@leafuk.org OFS 2 – Key successes in 2011 /Registered charity number: 1045781

More Related