Hundreds of members of the public enjoyed a look behind the scenes at local farms earlier this month, writes Guy Boswell.

Farmers opened their gates on Open Farm Sunday (June 8) as part of a nationwide event to showcase farming to the wider public.

Families were welcomed 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, with refreshments offered and donations taken in aid of various charities.

Open Farm Sunday is organised by Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) 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Shackleton, LEAF's Open Farm Sunday manager, said the event was all about breaking down barriers and challenging outdated perceptions. Many think you have to be born into a farming family to work on one, but this was not true, she added.

Two farms taking part in the Open Farm Sunday locally were Deer Park Farm, at Luckett, and Haye Farm, near St Dominick, 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.”

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.