Some say that when humans gave up the life of a hunter gatherer and turned to agriculture instead, they made the biggest mistake of all time. Certainly it was the first giant step towards civilisation as we now know it.

One place where staff are keen to demonstrate to the world at large exactly how the food on our plates is related to the ground around us, is the 1,250-acre Oxford University’s Field Station farm at Wytham — which this Sunday will open its gates to the public as part of the nationwide Open Farm Sunday.

But that old balance between nature raw on the one hand, and human efforts to prosper and multiply on the other, remains at the root of what concerns Mike Gooding, managing director of Farm Animal Initiative (FAI), the company which rents the 1,250-acre Wytham farm that lies alongside the 1,500-acre Wytham Wood, part of Oxford University’s research station.

He told The Oxford Times: “We want to show that better animal welfare makes for better food production. We want to fit animals and birds into their right environment — for instance, chickens like to live beneath trees; pigs like to forage; and ducks, surprisingly, prefer a shower to a bath.”

FAI Farm, which took over the tenancy in 2000, employs 20 people, half of whom are concerned with running a commercial farm, which, incidentally, must meet all the normal challenges that farmers so famously whinge about — like the weather and paying the rent; and half of whom are concerned with research and development on a farm which includes beef production, sheep, pigs and chickens.

The research projects are funded by different organisations, by no means exclusively Oxford University. For instance, the bid to breed a more robust chicken is being paid for by the Tubney Charitable Trust, funded by Oxford publishing and bookselling family the Blackwells; the RSPCA is funding research into pig farming; and the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the ducks.

Mr Gooding said: “Everything we do here revolves around the three Es: Ethics, Economics, and Environment.”

He added: “It’s all about understanding what best meets the natural requirements of the animals, in commercially viable farming systems, while ensuring our environmental impact is turned from negative to a positive contribution. We face lots of challenges over the next 30 years as populations expand and the demands on farming increase, but, provided we continue to learn and are driven to improve, farming also has great potential.”

The challenge, in a nutshell, is that nine billion people on the planet need feeding, so more food must be produced with less damage to the environment.

Now this Oxfordshire initiative, FAI, aims to link evidence-based science and commercial farming. Its influence around the world is spreading through a joint venture with the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Mr Gooding said: “For instance, we now have farming connections in China and Brazil. We work with governments, non-governmental organisations, consumers, and producers, to try and show that commerce, good farming, and the environment need not be at loggerheads.”

Certainly Mr Gooding, who has a background in farming and in marketing, along with his four fellow directors (who include a vet ), are doing all they can to ensure that the farm is used for research and education, as was originally intended when left to the university in 1943 by its last private owner, Raymond ffennell, in memory of his daughter, Hazel.

On the education side, Mr Gooding said: “Much of what we do is common sense. Kids seem to understand it straight away, but adults sometimes take longer. But in any case open days like the one coming up on Sunday are important because farming, since events like BSE, needs good PR. As David Yelland, former editor of The Sun newspaper said at the last Oxford Farming Conference, everyone thinks of us as whingers.”

Recent projects at FAI include an assessment of the impact of climate change on grassland and woodland ecosystems, and research into pig behaviour.

Mr Gooding said: “Pigs are really woodland creatures which like to use their snouts all day. They don’t like concrete. Now we have produced food for them that is buried in woodchip so that they have to use their snouts to forage for their food. This makes them less aggressive and also tires them out so they sleep better. The result is happier pigs.”

He added that the findings of Prof Marion Dawkins that ducks prefer showers has major implications and discussions are now going on with commercial duck producers to see how best to use this knowlege in modern farming .

On Sunday, visitors will take tractor trailer tours of the fields, see the animals, and talk to farmers about the development projects.

Other attractions include heavy horse trailer rides, owls, crafts, plant sales, a thatching demonstration, local food and produce and a chance to get up close to lambs and chicks Mr Gooding said: “Admission is free but please leave your dog behind.”.

Here will be food for thought indeed. Mr Gooding said that many people seem to hanker back to some mythical time when land was not “managed” at all.

And as for that first mistake, if mistake it was, the FAI is doing all it can to rectify it — or at least to help the rest of us live along with it. Mr Gooding said: “In Europe we throw away about 30 per cent of the food we buy. In the US, that figure is 50 per cent. Perhaps people will waste less after a visit to Wytham.

For details of Sunday’s open day, call 01865 790880 or see www.farmsunday.org