Am I a cf for asking a farmer this question?

OP, (from my own experience) if there’s a local pub or cafe I would be lingering there, hanging out and chatting to locals, tell them you are hoping to move into the area and they will hopefully be open to questions - you can gain a lot of insider knowledge that way - where do people walk their dogs, are the landowners amenable and so on…

You can ask.

It is his livelihood, so he'll say no.

Have you ever lived in the country? Busy roads with no footpaths are standard.

(Child of farmers)

If the farmer gives permission it can never become a right 🙄

If that is what you are looking for, then you need to buy a property with more land yourself so you can do that.

If you own it, you can do that and feel as free as you like, it will just cost you more to buy it.

Would you just ask a neighbour in a private house if you could take your dog for a stroll through their back garden because it was less hassle for you?

Honestly, I think you'll find in a year you'll be looking to move back to somewhere more town like.
Just because you can't see concrete on it, doesn't mean you can use it at all.

Issue I have is what if he says yes you move in but years later the land changes hands and the new owner says you can no longer access the fields

I don't think this house is right for you. If you won't walk on the lane and don't want to go in the car then you're going to feel pretty trapped, even if the farmer allows you to walk around the field opposite. Plus even if they do say yes, things can easily change and then you're in a house that does exactly what you said was a deal breaker

I would look on the local council website or OS website, and look for the nearest public footpaths to your property. Chances are you'll only have to go along the lane a few hundred yards to a footpath. You can also scoot along the road in Gooogle and check out the passing places eg wider bits, field gate entrances, entrances to other properties. I'd check how wide the road is anyway - if only wide enough for a car/small van you'll have delivery issues anytime you need a bigger delivery, and it may impact the delivery cost of eg heating oil, building supplies etc if they need a smaller vehicle. .

Thanks for being a voice of reason. Many posting are just angry NIMBYers who live in the countryside advocating on behalf of farmers!

Honestly @Whye if the dog walking would put you off don't buy it. We live in a similar, but much more rural area. The farmers hate people walking on their fields and durng lockdown fenced/padlocked everything off. I can't blame them. People were tramping over their land and leaving mess everywhere. Plus it is never 100% clear who is liable for an accident if something goes wrong.

Whatever the field is used for now, could be subject to change over time too. It is working land and unlikely to remain unused indefinitely. Plus what a farmer says one day doesn't mean it will always be like it. Plenty of land and access disputes round us.

If there are no footpaths and access means you can't use the road safely I would carry on your house hunt. You will find equally lovely houses with much better walking elsewhere.

Indeed. Just illustrating that people have very wide definitions of what constitutes rude.

Mine are much narrower. And even a total stranger asking to borrow something/use something etc is not, as far as I'm concerned rude.

Still this farmer might be one of those people with such a wide definition of entitled that they do think simple questions are rude so maybe OP shouldn't take the chance.

I'm not sure what some posters are on but I'm from a farming family and this would be fine. I know tens of farming families and it'd be fine with all of them, so long as you are sticking to the edges or even the trams potentially, it'd be no problem.

Yes and as mentioned above i know of farmers who dont give a monkeys that many local residents have extended their decking into their field, as it doesnt stop the tractor going round to harvest. Likewise doesnt mind dog walking at the periphery. Not everyone is as militant as you seem to make out.

Yes, she does sound polite but admits she's a townie!

My advice, don't buy the property. I can't imagine living under such circumstances that I am at the whim of neighbours, who might change their mind or move, at any point as to whether I can walk my dog without having to get in my car. Freedom, peace of mind and boundaries are very important in your choice of where to live.

By which times the dogs may be long dead and so its not an issue.

Im sad to see all the negativity to the OP who sounds really nice.

No, I wouldn't think of asking.

We have farmers in the family and sometimes people will wander round as if it's public land even right near the house. When asked if they're looking for someone, they sound quite affronted as if it's their right to wander through and even pick the produce (fruit)! It's not unless there is a right of way through it.

No one is saying farmers aren't nice. Just that the field is their livelihood....

Also, neighbour would be entirely justified in saying yes to begin with, then changing their mind if / when it no longer suits them, so you could end up stuck if you buy the house on the assumption you can use neighbour’s land.

Presumably you know that school mum though? Not a complete stranger who is basing their decision on whether to buy a house on your answer?

Cant get much more rural than round here and believe it or not many farmers are nice and approahable and would be happy to meet OP if she's going to be their new neighbour.

The problem is even if he agrees he may change his mind or he could move so I’d say it’s maybe not the house for you

Yes, possibly bizarre, and possibly the provider of a good anecdote depending on how the conversation went. But cheeky, rude or entitled? Nope!

I know some people feel asking anything is cheeky. A school mum asked me the other day if I could have her boys before and after school for the next two Wednesdays and in the same message apologised for asking. I don't get why she thought she had anything to apologise for. In the end I can do the before school but not the after school so I happily replied saying that.

If she'd asked on here she'd have had 30 posters telling her she was entitled for even asking. All very odd.

We bought five acres, it's a key node point with various footpaths off the boundaries.
Initially, we gave the neighbours permission to cross our land 20m to access acres of common. Then they were unpleasant and continued to be unpleasant. Permission withdrawn. We're now 20 years down the line and for 18 years they have had to load up the dogs twice a day and drive 2 minutes down the road. We're amazed they didn't make more effort to say sorry all those years ago.
They now watch other neighbours happily cross our land to get to the pub, it must really grate.

How on earth do you know what the farmer is going to say?
Without knowing them, the area, what, if anything they are growing, or how they feel?
I used to live backing onto a farmer's field, farmer was happy for all the houses on the street to use the field as a cut through to the common next to it apart from the rare times they were actually using it (e.g. sowing crops, occasionally opened it up for parking for a local festival etc.)

Are you a farmer or do you live rurally?