Farmers, open your gates on FarmDay

This month, farmers are invited to open their farm gates to the public to showcase Australia’s food and fibre production. The annual national initiative, FarmDay, is taking place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May and the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is encouraging farmers to host a family on-farm for a day. NFF President Jock Laurie hosted the Batkin family from Sydney on his beef, cross bred lamb and fine wool sheep property at Walcha during FarmDay last year. “FarmDay is a unique opportunity for farmers to talk one on one with a city family – to explain how food and fibre is produced and to give a hands-on perspective of life on the land,” Mr Laurie said. “During FarmDay last year, the Batkin’s spent a day with my family on our farm: collecting eggs, feeding the working dogs, checking stock and shearing sheep. It was a great opportunity to show what we do every day on the farm to care for our animals and look after our land. “Our visitors were blown away by the things we just take for granted: the landscape and wide open spaces, the technology and machinery we use and our farming lifestyle. After spending a day on our farm, the Batkin’s left with a better understanding of what life is all about for farming families, and what we do to produce our quality food and fibre. “We know that city families may not often get the opportunity to visit our farms, which is why FarmDay is such an important initiative. And it’s great to see the amount of interest from those in the city: this year there are three city families registered for each farm. “I strongly encourage all farmers to support this by throwing open their farm gates on FarmDay,” Mr Laurie said. FarmDay is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by former national RIRDC Rural Women’s Award winner, and Victorian wool and lamb producer, Deb Bain. The NFF is a proud supporter of the event. For more information, or to register for this year’s FarmDay, call 1300 367 036 or visit: www.farmday.com.au.