One thousand pour through gates of farm near Ipswich

Those farmers in the region who took part in the event June 11 have reported high turnouts on what was a gloriously sunny day.

Potato farmer Chris Suckling - who operates at Holbrook on the Shotley Peninsula - said more than 1200 visitors poured in for his family's charity fundraising event. Most got a go on one of the 18 tractor and trailer tours around the farm. 

They were treated to live sheep-shearing, and got to see Ronny the Suffolk Punch who was braided and groomed for the big event. They also enjoyed cattle, sheep, chickens and machinery exhibits.

Meanwhile, jam maker and fruit grower Wilkin and Sons' event at Tiptree drew more 2,000 people. 

"We were trying to build on the success of our first event (last year) by involving more industry experts, local crafters and the emergency services," explained Chris Suckling, who wanted to raise funds for the air ambulance after it came to his aid some years ago after he was badly injured in a farm accident.

"The success of the day was entirely due to the enormous help and support of our fantastic and willing group of helpers, without whom we could never have taken on this challenge, and our huge thanks go to them all.  

"We were very grateful for the generosity on the day, helping us raise in excess of £3,000 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance which is a charity who helped us when we needed them."

Among those in attendance were the fire service, the rural crime team and volunteers from the East Anglian Air Ambulance and event received industry support from Hutchinson’s, Syngenta, Origin fertilisers, Kings Seeds, Anglia Grain Services, Tuckwells, Thurlow Nunn and Doe Power.

Tiptree opened up its farm and gave people the opportunity to visit its strawberry fields.

On the farm, picking was under way and visitors got to see a robotic picker operated by researchers from the University of Essex.

Chris Newenham, joint managing director of Wilkin & Sons said the farm was proud to take part in the national event, which is co-ordinated by Linking the Environment And Farming (LEAF). 

“Encouraging families to visit farms and see how their food is grown is key to the ethos of LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday," he said.

“We are grateful to all those who brought a stand or a demonstration to support our Open Farm Sunday - Big Bear cider, WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust, local farmers Robin and James Waters who brought examples of their arable crops, rural police, food vendors including the famous Millins butchers of Tiptree and all the Tiptree team.

"An extra excitement this year was the arrival of Liana Bridges and Barry Lewes from BBC Essex “Quest” making their final stop of the day on this very popular programme. They were greeted at the gate by two seasonal farm workers from South Africa.”