The Open Farm Sunday trailer tour
Rebecca Evans AM, Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, has thrown her support behind Open Farm Sunday, highlighting the initiative in the Assembly chamber, and spending time on Penlan Uchaf Farm in Kidwelly.
Mrs Evans said: “Open Farm Sunday is a UK-wide celebration of farming and food where farmers throw the farm gates open to the public. It is a chance for people to learn more about how their food is produced, and discover the important role that farming plays in countryside management.”
Mrs Evans spent Open Farm Sunday on Penlan Uchaf Farm in Kidwelly. The farm is home to Burns Pet Nutrition.
The day included guided trailer tours of the farm where visitors could learn about the farm’s crops and livestock, and hear more about the Burns family’s commitment to supporting and investing in conservation and biodiversity. Other attractions included talks on meat cuts from Carmarthen’s Rogers and Sons Butchers, information stands, food, and a popular welly wanging contest.
Mrs Evans said: “I congratulate John and Tegwen Burns and all their staff on an excellent Open Farm Sunday, and thank St Ishmael’s Young Farmers for all their work in ensuring that the day went so smoothly.
“Penlan Uchaf Farm has a great deal to be proud of, particularly in terms of their commitment to animal welfare and conservation, and Open Farm Sunday has provided the opportunity to showcase that work to visitors from across Carmarthenshire and beyond.”
Mrs Evans took the opportunity to raise Open Farm Sunday with the Minister for Natural Resources and Food in the Senedd during a recent Ministerial Question Time.
She said: “I am looking forward to celebrating Welsh farming and Welsh food this weekend by visiting one of my neighbouring farms on Open Farm Sunday.
“Do you join me in recognising the value of opening up farms to the public, so that we can foster a greater understanding of the role that farming plays in food production in Wales, but also in countryside management? Do you also join me in encouraging people to visit a farm on Sunday?”
The Minister responded: “I certainly do. Open Farm Sunday is a great initiative; there are 12 farms in Wales that will be joining the scheme this year. I hope that we can regard this as a starting point for something much more fundamental and comprehensive. As part of our overall food strategy, we need to recognise the place of food in our society and our communities, and that means an understanding not only of the food on our plate, but of how it gets to our plate in the first place.”
Following the success of this year’s Open Farm Sunday, Mrs Evans is encouraging other farms across Mid and West Wales to find out how they can get involved with Open Farm Sunday next year in order to help the celebration of farming and food go from strength to strength.
More info on open farm Sunday can be found at http://www.farmsunday.org/ofs12b/home.eb
