Hundreds of members of the public enjoyed a look behind the scenes at local farms last weekend.

Farmers opened their gates on Open Farm Sunday as part of a nationwide event designed to showcase the world of farming to the wider public.

Families were welcomed with open arms onto fields and barns to see cattle and sheep grazing with demonstrations of milking and the chance to practise on a mock-up cow.

Visitors were given guided tours in trailers towed by tractors, while refreshments were offered and donations taken in aid of various charities.

Open Farm Sunday is organised by Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF), a charity that promotes more sustainable farming and to address many people’s apparent lack of knowledge of how food gets to the dinner table.

Annabel Shackleton, LEAF's Open Farm Sunday manager, said the event was all about breaking down barriers, challenging outdated perceptions, and showing people how innovative and advanced farming really is. Many think you have to be born into a farming family to work on one, but this is not true, she added.

Surveys have shown how disconnected young people, especially, are with agriculture so it is important to give non-farming people the chance to see for themselves what happens on a farm on a typical day.

Two farms taking part in the Open Farm Sunday were Deer Park Farm, at Luckett, and Haye Farm, both on the Cornish side of the Tamar Valley.

A spokesperson for Deer Park Farm said: “Open Farm Sunday was very successful. We had about 180 people where they could see a farm where farming and nature blends together through regenerative methods of production.

“They met Lee the Llama and experienced suckler cows and calves up close. We took visitors on tractor and trailer rides and on the self-guided nature trail in our conservation area. They were invited to bring a picnic to eat by the pond.”

The Tamara Landscape Partnership team was on the farm as part of its roadshows ‘bringing waterways to life and closer to people’.

Haye is a working 300-acre organic farm next to the river (including Haye Marsh). Visitors were shown its rich biodiversity, carbon-capturing methods, vegetables, fruit and nut-growing and its suckler herd of cattle grazing.

Donations of £213.60 were taken for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Cattle at Haye Farm on the River Tamar - a big attraction during Ope Farm Sunday when the public are invited to have a guided tour.
Cattle at Haye Farm on the River Tamar – a big attraction during Open Farm Sunday when the public enjoyed guided tours and refreshments. (Haye Farm)
Haye Farm, on the River Tamar, opened it's barn doors and fields to the public for Open Farm Sunday. Guided tours were held for livestock and organic crops.
Haye Farm, on the River Tamar, opened its barn doors and fields to the public for Open Farm Sunday. Guided tours were held to see livestock and organic crops. (Hayer Farm)