Am I a cf for asking a farmer this question?

We walk on farmer’s fields but I think this may be another if those ‘Scotland is different’ scenarios. And we don’t when there’s livestock in the field, and not through the crops. We walk the edge of the field. So it’s not an option all year round cause it’d be damaging his livelihood.

Our farmer let's us but we made friends first, he saw using the only footpath and said we can walk the perimeters. It's arable though. He doesn't take kindly to the other people who do it though. I don't think id ask before moving in and being neighbourly! Dogs can be a nuisance to farmers

It's a silly reason to buy or not buy a house.
He could say yes and then put live stock in field and change his mind a year down the line.

It's not cheeky but if he has live sick he wouldn't want dog off lead I wouldn't imagine. If he has crops he won't want them trampled.

This. He might say yes and then change his mind, or the farm may change hands.

We wouldn't have noticed probably it he hadn't left loo roll! Happened a few times before we connected the dots. We have an outside loo as well, the postie always used it on his rounds but nope, the corner of an old barn was preferable for this chap!

the DPD driver who took to shitting in a barn
That's a delivery I expect you could have done without. Unless you are very very organic ,I suppose.

You've been lucky. My family have had problems.

I can count on one hand the problems we have had with people walking, my family has farmed 500 acres for generations. Those problems were not from people who asked if they could walk their dog around the edge of a field. I say ask, they can say no but I imagine it'll depend on the area of the country and the proximity to potential hooligans. The only hooligans we get in our area is the DPD driver who took to shitting in a barn.

The field is someone's private property. Ask yourself how you would feel is a complete stranger came to your door and asked if they could let their dog poop in your garden because they don't have a garden and can't be bothered going to the park?

Don’t make your problem his problem 🙄 🙄 If he lets you then he’s opening up the possibility of other people wanting to walk their dogs there as well. I think you’re being very cheeky and I would say no if I was the farmer.

I know loads of farmers thanks but I'm not pretending to be one.

I normally lurk these days. I’m a sheep farmer. There are quite a few farmers on here. It would be a polite no OP.

A lot of people in certain areas of the country certainly will know farmers. There is six within 30 minute drive here and then there is use who have more small holding types. Though maybe because we live in a very flat area.

Farming is hard enough to survive without people expecting to just use your land for a dog walk or general stroll unless a right of way already exists and even then people take the piss.

Farmer's granddaughter here, brought up on a farm but in Scotland. In Scotland OP can walk in that field as long as she behaves responsibly. She doesn't need permission.

Right to Roam Scotland

Find a different house. No farmer is going to want to allow you leading to others trying to use it then a right of way becoming an issue.

Also just because today it’s a field of corn doesn’t mean in 1/2/5/10 years it won’t be a cow field or an entire housing estate.

If an immediate walk on path/forest is a requirement find that.

This thread is bizarre.

@Whye of course you aren’t being a CF in asking the question. A CF would just be walking their dogs without asking permission.

Our local farmer has certain fields, about six of them, that he doesn’t mind people walking around the perimeter with dogs/running/on horseback. However, they are all crop fields and he’s losing very little ground but managing any presence to a very restricted area.

I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere where I absolutely had to drive to walk the dogs. Ask your question politely. They may even be amenable to charging a fee? Have the conversation and see how you feel after that.

If the road is rarely used, just use the road and make sure you're in bright clothing. 2 mins in the car is also nothing. I wouldn't lose a house I loved over that.

Who knew that there would be several farmers perusing mumsnet on a saturday afternoon?! What's that I smell?! Is it cow dung 😆

Also from a farming family and every farmer I know would say no.

My cousin has had so many sheep injured by dogs. My uncle lost several metres of crops because walkers were letting their dogs and kids run through it. We've had sheep and cows get onto arable land because gates were left open.

Then there's what happens if someone gets injured on your land, especially if you've given permission to be there.

I've been allowed by a farmer to use his land to walk, but after several years of chatting to him. He knew I understood the lifestyle and any consequences of mistakes on the land. He knew I'd keep the dog in check. At first, he told us immediately that there was no dog walking on his land. My cousin and uncle have said no to people on their land before now too.

I'm here giving my experience of what will be said and the reasons for it. Not because I want to speak for a farmer because I live in the countryside. I lived rurally. Currently I live on the edge of a housing estate.

Farmer here. Hard no, the farmer doesn’t know you, people often start taking liberties when given any permission, damaging crop margins, letting dog off the lead (“just this once”) trying to claim rights on the land after a period of time. We have seen this time and time again. So you can ask but I imagine it will be a hard no and he/she would be right to say no.

Just checking you are in England not Scotland?

The posirion in Scotland re acess to land is completely different.

Don't presume you will have any right to walk your pets in the woods either. There are lots of ground nesting birds that are now in danger of being extinct because of entitled dog walkers.

Def.not if there are likely to be sheep in the fields.

It sounds daft, but friends who used to live in very rural N Devon found it so much easier to walk their dogs when visiting us in outer SW London - we have a huge park a short walk away. At home they would have to drive for at least 15 minutes before getting to anywhere they could let them off the lead.

Also, being trampled by a cow (or indeed, many cows) is not an irrational fear.

I know 2 farmers who had their legs broken by cows kicking out whilst being milked. And a friend of mine (also incredibly rural) was trampled by a herd of cows in a field where she had walked for years and had broken ribs and needed her face reconstructing.