Brian Knipe, Vowgarve Farm joined the Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend in 2014. His dairy farm located in Rasharkin, near Ballymoney, received excellent reviews from visitors and proved very popular with locals. Brian has confirmed he’ll be back in 2015 and is looking forward to this year’s crop of visitors!
Here’s what he had to say about his first experience of Open Farm Weekend;
“2014 was our first year of Open Farm Weekend and I can highly recommend taking part. It was a real eye-opener for me – I’ve been involved in plenty of farm tours and visits from other farmers, but opening to the public was a different matter. However it was well worth it and the feedback and engagement over the two days of the event was highly rewarding.
“I’ll not deny it takes some effort in advance of the event, but it was definitely worth it. As a dairy farm we decided to take visitors through the entire process, including milking times, so areas such as the dairy and milking parlour would be open to public scrutiny. So our priority was to make sure these areas were clean and in ship-shape condition which meant spending time power hosing in the immediate lead up to weekend. Luckily I had student from Greenmount working on the farm, and he was dedicated to this job.
“We used a self-guided tour, complete with signage and posters so visitors really got a good insight into how milk is produced. We contacted United Feeds who gave us great support as they set up a display which helped explain how feed and nutrients affect the quality of the milk and the end products which consumers buy each day in their supermarket. I would definitely urge any farmers to make contact with their suppliers and processors and ask for their support – it is vitally important and adds a great deal to the whole experience.
“My best advice is to keep it simple when it comes to telling your farm story. Explain processes in straightforward terms which non-farming folk can appreciate. For example, ‘the average cows eats the equivalent of X football pitches of grass each day and this produces X pints of milk’….or ’Did you know you need X apples to produce a single bottle of cider?’ etc.
“I also strongly believe that Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend should represent the reality of farming life. We were approached by fun fair organisers offering stands and bouncy castles for the event – which they would charge for – but we were very much against this and think this should be avoided. Apart from the health & safety aspect, it takes away from the whole educational message. Instead we offered coffees and teas, served by our friends and neighbours, with all money raised going to charity. Some of my neighbouring farmers are keen vintage enthusiasts, so they brought their tractors along and they were a great hit with children.
“One highlight for me was a comment from a local lady, who told me she had lived in the country all her life but had NEVER been on a farm. She really loved the whole concept and enjoyed the first-hand experience of farming life. She was particularly thrilled with the opportunity to get close to the animals so I asked if she wanted to get into the pen with one of our cows (it was a very quiet animal and was used to being handled). The lady was completely thrilled and after a few minutes, was close to tears, which brought home to me the significance of this whole initiative.”
