Kiwis Flock To Third National Open Farm Day

An estimated 2,500 urban Kiwis visited 24 farms this Sunday, part of New Zealand’s third national open farm day initiative, Open Farms.

Farms of all types participated in the nationwide project, from market gardens in Auckland, to dairy farms in the Waikato, regenerative sheep and beef farms near Wellington and organic veges in Christchurch.

“This was a tough year for farmer hosts, so we really appreciate them giving urban Kiwis the chance to touch, feel and taste their way back into food and farming” says Open Farms founder Daniel Eb.

Successive weather events in the project’s target areas around New Zealand’s major cities impacted host numbers, but visitor interest remained high. “About two-thirds of our events were fully booked this year - again proving that, when given the chance, urban Kiwis are keen to get back out on-farm” says Eb.

Up in Auckland, The Singh family at Kingseat Organics hosted more than 300 people for a day exploring organic vege production, meeting animals and planting native trees. “We had 30-metre-long lines of people through the vege beds at times and everyone was so engaged to learn about where their food comes from – it was a great day” says farmer Malkiat Singh.

One of the largest 2023 events took place at Mangaroa Farms, a sheep & beef farm and market garden aiming to become a local food hub for their Upper Hutt community – farmer Jules Matthews referred to their open day simply as “awesome”.

Open Farms is backed by three sponsors - Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund.

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