Trying to connect food and farming is not easy.

As generations inch away from their farming heritage and farmers grow fewer in number, for the farmers who remain there is a greater responsibility to help consumers understand how their food is produced.

Open Farm Sunday on June 12 is the industry’s chance to showcase all that the industry delivers, to allow their customers to see a farm in action.

There is also the greater effect our business of agriculture has on the rest of the population since many lives here in Wales are touched by agriculture.

From the seeds we plant to raise a healthy crop to the livestock and people that our farm products feed – as producers and consumers we are connected in a complex web.

Everyone from the small-scale vegetable grower to larger farms with thousands of acres, each makes an important contribution to sustaining the population. No role in agriculture is too small to go unrecognised.

But despite the impressive reach of our farm products, the number of farms in Wales is shrinking and this means that as the population grows, fewer farmers are challenged to grow more food on less ground than their forebears.

It also means that farmers are responsible for making choices that are best for the land, and best for their ability to grow food to feed the nation.

Open Farm Sunday provides their consumers with a front-row seat to viewing the whole picture of raising livestock and growing crops, how farmers look after the countryside and the environment.

Events like this go a long way towards connecting communities with their local food producers, in one day giving thousands of people in Britain, across generations, interests and geographical locations, a genuine farm experience and opportunity to meet a farmer, ask questions and see farming at first hand.