The majority of Britons think that while the work that farmers do is important, they have no knowledge of what they actually do for the environment, a new survey shows.
Nearly all those surveyed (94%) agreed on the importance of farmers' work, but only 12% claimed to be well informed about what they do for the countryside.
The study found that the majority (71%) of Britons had no idea that farmers are responsible for looking after almost three quarters of the countryside.
Commissioned by farming charity LEAF, organiser of Open Farm Sunday which took place on 9 June, it suggested that people weren't familiar with farmers' environmental work.
Just over a third said they didn't know that farmers plant and maintain hedgerows and woodland, while 62% had no idea they plant and manage wildflowers.
Most (69%) didn't know they create ponds for wildlife, and over three quarters (79%) said they didn't know farmers create habitats for beetles, feed birds (77%), and install bird and bat boxes (72%).
And just over half (57 percent) of people said they had no idea that farmers maintain footpaths, the research found.
However, it found that there was some appetite to learn, with four out of 10 reporting that they want to learn more about the work farmers do.
Nearly half of those surveyed said they want to see more food labels indicating sustainability of products and 26% said they are more worried about sustainable food production than price.
And just under half (45%) said they bought British when possible, while 40% said they look carefully at food labels.
Responding to the survey's findings, Annabel Shackleton, LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday manager, said farmers were often 'unsung heroes'.
“Farmers really are the guardians of the earth, who go to great lengths to protect the natural environment around them whilst producing nutritious food for us all to enjoy.
“Farming with nature is a vital battleground on which our heroes live, thrive and sometimes struggle?—?there are challenges we don’t see, threats that are ongoing, victories that aren’t recognised."
