With our deep farming roots, it’s been an honour to work with the Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) team to deliver this year’s trade campaign for their annual event, Open Farm Sunday (OFS).

In the weeks leading up to 9 June, there was a real buzz in the media as we saw our hard work come to fruition. It’s a fantastic initiative that Pinstone was thrilled to get behind, shining a spotlight on the positive outcomes that our farmers achieve as custodians of the land.

Fulfilling a special birthday brief

As the event’s 18th anniversary approached, our objective was not just to celebrate the legacy of OFS but to inspire a new wave of farmers to open their gates and share their stories with the wider public.

Our overarching goal was to elevate OFS as LEAF’s flagship event to build greater trust from participating farmers, connect people with their local producers, and highlight the importance of farming with nature. To achieve this, we set some robust SMART objectives around media and sponsor engagement in addition to farmer recruitment and retention.

Bringing Open Farm Sunday to life

To boost farmer participation, we leveraged authentic peer-to-peer storytelling and practical advice. Our digital and print content featured past hosts, who shared their personal experiences and insights to encourage others to register their farm this year.

A tailored, trade PR campaign focused on overcoming perceived barriers to entry by promoting the accessibility and the value of hosting an event whatever the scale.

LEAF’s extensive OFS visitor and educational research gave us a really solid foundation to substantiate our key campaign messages. Last year’s visitor survey demonstrated the extent of the public’s appetite to better understand farming. An overwhelming 96% of visitors say they leave farms with a greater appreciation of the work farmers do after attending an OFS event.

And after delivering the campaign and seeing the results,  , myself and a gaggle of small people, were keen to take part in the day and see it come to life. For my 13-year-old nephew, who has ambitions to farm himself, the visit gave him real insight into the breadth and complexities of a farmers’ role. Our host really conveyed that farming is not just about food production but also protecting the natural landscape that we all value so much. He also explained where the farm is able to be sustainable with efforts such as growing protein rich crops on site to feed their cattle and sheep, rather than importing it.

It’s been a fantastic campaign to deliver as it’s given us scope to showcase our passion to deliver a compelling narrative that resonates with both farmers and the public, helping achieve the goals of fostering a deeper connection with the land and those who cultivate it.

Looking ahead

We’re already looking forward to OFS 2025!

If you’re interested in learning more about OFS, take a look at the highlight video below.