Agri Aware welcomed visitors to its Open Farm event on Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th, at the Harlin family dairy farm in Kilmessan, Co. Meath, for its annual flagship event. On a weekend that threatened to pour rain, the reality was a few showers of rain helped to grease the wellies for two great days of family fun. 

The goal of Open Farm is to offer families who don’t have access to a farm the opportunity to step foot onto a working Irish family farm and see first-hand the work that goes into producing top-quality sustainable food. As the gates opened on Saturday and Sunday morning, Agri Aware was greeted with sight of families, young and old excited to see exactly how the Harlin’s go about producing milk on their farm. 

Due to increased demand once again this year, Open Farm ran for two days on the same weekend first for the first time – to great success, offering flexibility to those who wanted to attend and work around busy life schedules.  

Throughout the day, attendees made their way along the nature trail, where they had the opportunity to meet and speak with Agri Aware patrons and industry experts. Visitors learned about a wide range of topics, from biodiversity and soil health to sustainable farming practices and food production while also getting an opportunity to see the Harlins’s herd of cows out grazing. 

The trail then led visitors to the farmyard, where the National Dairy Council offered samples of Irish cheddar cheese while sharing information about dairy nutrition and the NDC Guarantee mark. Visitors could also stop by the Tirlán stand to enjoy some delicious Mooju and milk. 

One of the highlights of the day came as the cows made their way into the milking parlour. Visitors had the chance to watch the evening milking take place live, providing a unique opportunity to see first-hand how milk is produced on an Irish dairy farm. 

Agri Aware would like to sincerely thank the Harlin family, all of our volunteers, patrons and everyone who attended and helped make Open Farm such a success in what was the first time the event was held in Co. Meath. 

We would also like to acknowledge the generous support of our event sponsors, the Irish Farmers’ Association, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the National Dairy Council and Tirlán.