NEW GLOUCESTER — Twins Connor and Mateo, 3, set foot on a farm for the first time on Sunday. At Pineland Farms, they were animated while “driving” a parked tractor and more quiet in observing chickens at close range – fascination turned to wariness as the poultry started to peck in their direction.

“I love farm animals, and they love anything outdoors, so I figured they’d love the animals,” said the twins’ mother, Marly Murphy, who herself grew up with livestock and recently moved to Poland.

The Murphy family visited Pineland Farms as part of Maine Open Farm Day, a statewide event hosted by Real Maine under a program of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. In its 36th year, the day serves to connect Mainers with their local farmers, who welcome visitors to tour their operations, pet livestock and ask questions. This year, 90 farms across all 16 counties of Maine opened their doors to visitors on Sunday, with several farms open on Saturday as well.

Many participating farms are only open to visitors this one day of the year. This is not the case for Pineland Farms, which has a Family Farmyard and Education Barn that serve as learning venues for year-round visitors, who can take self-guided tours of the farm for $6 each.

While being accessible to the public is not reserved to a special event, farm staff said that participating in Open Farm Day was still important to Pineland Farms’ mission of being an educational farm and supporting Maine farmers more broadly. Typically getting about 200 visitors per day in the summer, more than 600 people toured the farm for free on Sunday.

“Any event that supports agriculture across the state, we want to be a part of,” said Sigrid Sibley, Pineland Farms’ assistant director of education.

Activities for the day included garden tours and the chance to observe and pet livestock including pigs, cows, rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep and more. Pineland Farms also set up a children’s entrepreneur market, an ice cream truck, and a live demonstration from a local blacksmith.

Showing visitors how to make a twisted iron hook using a forge, anvil and hammer was New Gloucester blacksmith Tony “Thor” Stanley. He said demonstrating blacksmithing was similar to showing children around a farm, as they learn to appreciate the work that goes into the final product they see, whether it’s fresh vegetables or a forged iron nail.

“Farming is very labor intensive. So is blacksmithing,” Stanley said. “It’s a labor of love and passion.”

Welcoming many visitors to the farm was Skittles, a caramel-colored Jersey cow and her matching unnamed calf, who is only three days old. Visitors could submit suggestions for the calf’s name, with submissions including “Reese,” “Skippy” and “Bluebell.”

Addie Moser, of Gardiner, 9, suggested “Skittles Jr.” Pineland Farms will select a name from the suggestions later this week and reveal it on social media, said Sibley.

Tracy Garrow, of Glenburn, was visiting the farm with her children Zachary, 9, and Cooper, 6. With both boys being avid animal lovers, the family also visited an alpaca farm in Unity on Saturday as part of Open Farm Day.

While her children gently pet Skittles, Garrow spoke to the educational value of their farm experiences.

“A chance to get out, see the animals and what local farms have to offer is good for them,” said Garrow.

“To learn more about where milk comes from, agriculture – there’s not much about that for kids these days,” she said.

As for the calf’s name, Cooper had the same idea as Addie:

“Skittles Jr.”