Open Farm Sunday 2023: Thousands flock to Norfolk farms

Open Farm Sunday is an annual event showing how farmers grow food, care for livestock and manage the environment.

Families were given guided tours, machinery demonstrations, animal experiences and wildlife discussions at events across the region.

Open Farm Sunday 2023. Jesse and Ivy Sprake (aged five and eight), from Wortwell, on a vintage tractor at Old Hall Farm, Woodton (Image: Chris Hill)

They included talks on livestock, arable farming and conservation on the north Norfolk coast at the Holkham Estate and Deepdale Farm.

Meanwhile, there were displays of farming tradition at Gressenhall Farm near Dereham, organic produce and rare-breed livestock at Edfords Care Farm in Mautby, Great Yarmouth, and potato production insights at OW Wortley & Sons in Methwold.

Open Farm Sunday 2023. Stuart Mayhew talking to visitors at Old Hall Farm, Woodton (Image: Chris Hill)

And at Old Hall Farm in Woodton, near Bungay, an estimated 1,500 people enjoyed dairy milking demonstrations, farm tours and discussions on "regenerative farming".

Farm co-owner Stuart Mayhew said: "It is all about showing people where their food comes from, and how much can be produced locally, naturally and on their doorstep.

"I think there is slowly a growing awareness that food is not a simple binary thing, and finding an outlet to get those questions answered is really important."

Open Farm Sunday 2023 at Old Hall Farm, Woodton. Three-year-old Sienna Sadler from Loddon with parents Matthew and Nicola Sadler (left) and grandparents Val Buck and Alex Lancashire, from Lowestoft (Image: Chris Hill)

Open Farm Sunday 2023 at Old Hall Farm, Woodton. Alastair Carmichael with son Benjamin, 3, from London, and Ben Turner with daughter Lottie, 4, from Brooke (Image: Chris Hill)

Open Farm Sunday 2023. Tilly Crawford, 3, from Manningtree, feeding the goats at Old Hall Farm, Woodton (Image: Chris Hill)

Open Farm Sunday 2023. A Jersey dairy calf at Old Hall Farm, Woodton (Image: Newsquest)