Whats planned for 2021 Virtual Farm Weekend?
The countdown is on for this years Bank of Ireland Virtual Farm Weekend in Northern Ireland. The event will take place online from Friday, July 30 to Sunday, August 1 and is set to include almost 30 farms  The Virtual Farm Weekend initiative seeks to reconnect consumers with agricultural producers, as well as showcasing the excellent work farmers do in caring for their local environment. Although no visitors can attend the farms in the person, the programme of live activities running from 10:00am-4:00pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will give viewers a flavour of what goes on through the farm gates. Live activities will include sheepdog trials, wool spinning, tag rugby with the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster, cooking demonstrations with a celebrity chef, and of course, the opportunity to see a menagerie of animals including rare breed hens, alpacas, rare breed pigs, mountain reared sheep and horses. Advertisement  Viewers will also be able to see the huge amount of effort farmers put into looking after the landscape we all enjoy. Including traditional farming methods and environmental practices that help make Northern Irelands farming industry world-class. This is the 10th year of the Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend initiative, which is run by the Ulster Farmers Union and supported by Bank of Ireland, Moy Park, the Livestock & Meat Commission NI, ASDA and NFU Mutual. David Brown, chairman for Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend and deputy president of the Ulster Farmers Union, said: This years event is going to be special for us as we celebrate 10 years of showing the public what a wonderful job our farms and farm producers do in making and growing the local food we enjoy so much. We would have loved to welcome visitors to the farm gate but going virtual opens the farming community up to a new audience. We encourage as many people as possible to engage on social media over the Weekend and make the farms feel valued and supported in the incredibly important contribution they make to all our lives.