Open Farm Sunday

21 June 2015

Open Farm Sunday (OFS) is an annual event organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) which gives the general public, and kids in particular, an insight into UK agriculture that they would not usually experience.

This year OFS took place on 7th June and 2 Sisters was delighted to get involved by opening one of the farms where chickens are grown  for the UK retail sector.     

The event, at farmer Sam Fairs’ Thorington Farm, nr Saxmundham, Suffolk, attracted hundreds of visitors. Mums, dads, kids and grandparents were treated to a tour of the poultry house thanks to a specially erected viewing gallery. Here, they were able to see thousands of chicks at close hand and learn a little about our welfare standards and how carefully the animals are monitored and taken care of on farm. They were also able to have a look at some newly hatched chicks which were just hours old.

Andrew Gibson, group agriculture manager for 2 Sisters said: “We had a fantastic day, blessed with great weather. We take the birds’ welfare extremely seriously and we’re very proud of our standards but because we’re also so conscious of biosecurity on farm it means we needed a special viewing gallery to allow people to see the inside of the house. Viewing galleries are fairly rare, so although we’re keen to share the story of how we farm chicken, the people on the farm today are getting a glimpse of something that most of the general public wouldn’t get to see first-hand. We’re really grateful to our farmer, Sam, does a fantastic job helping to promote the poultry industry, and to Werner Strydom and his team at Hook 2 Sisters who masterminded the day’s event  and for the installation of the viewing gallery.

“Feedback from visitors was very positive and I think most were very surprised at what they saw and how well we look after the birds. We’d really like to show more people what we do and we’re hoping to build viewing facilities at more farms in time for next year’s event.” Find out more about Open Farm Sunday.

 

 

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