The Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) is continuing its support of the local agri-food industry by renewing its sponsorship for this year’s Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend.
Taking place online during Friday 30 July to Sunday 1 August, Open Farm Weekend has had a successful partnership with the LMC for many years through its popular cookery demonstrations, as well as the work it does in highlighting the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured beef and lamb farms that participate in the Weekend.
Chief Executive of the Livestock and Meat Commission NI, Ian Stevenson commented: “LMC is delighted to again be sponsoring Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend, especially in this its 10th anniversary year. During lockdown many consumers developed a love affair with food and through online events such as Virtual Farm Weekend we hope they will continue to build on this momentum when we can visit farms in person again.
“A large part of what of LMC does is to educate consumers about the merits of purchasing and consuming local produce and events such as Open Farm Weekend highlight this farm to fork story very well. As an organisation which raises awareness about and promotes the local beef and sheep meat industry and its world class produce, we’re keen to see this annual event continue long into the future.”
The Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend is run by the Ulster Farmers’ Union.
Ulster Farmers’ Union Deputy President, David Brown added: “Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend was established in 2012 to showcase our farming industry and the wonderful work our farmers do. Its focus is to help the public, particularly those from a non-farming background to better understand how our food is produced and to raise awareness of how supply chains work, through our local food industry. We are delighted to welcome almost 30 farms this year to the Virtual Weekend and give consumers a snap shot of what happens behind the scenes on a working farm.
“LMC has supported the initiative for many years and as well as the financial support this year, the organisation has very kindly provided a Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured beef and lamb cookery demonstration as part of the prize for each winning school in our School’s Competition. We are delighted with this generous offer and it has enabled our agricultural showcase to grow bigger and better!
Pictured is John Best from Acton House Farm who is participating in Bank of Ireland Virtual Farm Weekend with Ian Stevenson from the LMC and David Brown from the Ulster Farmers’ Union
