Aiming to bridge the gap between city and country, Agri Aware has announced the return of its open farm event, taking place in Co Kildare next month.

The dairy farm of Stephen Byrne and family is the location of this year’s event, taking place on Saturday 15 June.

Sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, the National Dairy Council, the Irish Farmers’ Association and Tirlán, open farm is the flagship event in Agri Aware’s mission of enhancing agricultural literacy.

School’s day

This year’s event sees the addition of a schools' day on Friday 14 June where 500 primary school students in Kildare and Dublin will step foot on to the farm.

The schools' day will give the next generation a chance to see first hand how local Irish food is produced, particularly dairy products and give the next generation an appreciation of where their food comes from.

General public day

The general public day on Saturday will give young and old the chance to see a working farm that is focused on production in an environmentally sustainable way.

There will be plenty to see and do on the day, including a self-guided tour of a typical family-run Irish dairy farm, a mini-farm village showcasing many of the other Irish agricultural production systems, cooking demos, games for the kids to enjoy and delicious local Irish food to taste.

Speaking at the launch of open farm 2024, Agri Aware executive director Marcus O’Halloran thanked Stephen and his family for opening up their farm and said: “Bridging the gap between producer and consumer continues to be a challenge, but one we are committed to bridging.

“I’d encourage anyone living in Kildare and neighbouring counties to make the trip to the Byrne farm to reconnect with our producers, who put animal health and welfare, the environment first and foremost every day to ensure the sustainability of our food chain.”

Free of charge

The event is free of charge, with gates open to the public from 10.30am to 5pm. The Eircode for the farm is W34 V521.

See full details on the event here.