Interesting to hear thoughts on Open farm Sunday. We opened our gates for a very low key day. Some toy tractors etc for kids, some calves and a cow to look at (well handled before so hopefully they weren't stressed by the experience) and a short walk to see cows grazing in the field. We gave away milkshake (provided by our milk buyer) plus tea and coffee, biscuits etc. We didn't make any money from it, it has cost us money in terms of refreshments, staff time etc. No tour, though we may run one next year, but all of us happy to answer questions and talk about the farm. We allowed visitors to see the first ten minutes of milking and some calves being fed.
It's quite hard to allow people to get hands on on a modern farm, for lots of reasons, and of course milking only happens twice a day, so we can't demonstrate that all day! Those wanting hands on experience probably need to look for specific courses/venues, as most modern working farms aren't set up for it. That hopefully doesn't stop it being an interesting day out for people.