Would living next to an arable field put you off buying?

[MamaToABeautifulBoy]

We are considering buying a house with a beautiful arable field immediately beyond the garden. It is currently planted with corn and looks idyllic, but I would really appreciate some honest first-hand experiences from anyone who lives beside a working crop field.

How disruptive is the machinery during ploughing and harvesting? Does it operate very early or late with bright lights? Is harvest dust or crop spraying noticeable, and are there any smells or other drawbacks we may not have considered?
I completely accept that occasional agricultural activity is part of living in the countryside. I am simply trying to establish whether it amounts to a few busy days each year or can be a more regular nuisance. Would it put you off buying an otherwise lovely house?

In my experience harvesting can go into the evening with lights etc but it’s not every day and it’s interesting to watch. Part of keeping our farmers going!

It would put me off as I’d expect it to be sold for housing, it’s so hard for farmers to make a profit. But would be lovely to live by if it remained!!

I'd do pesticide/fertiliser research. There was a lot of noise about that twenty years ago, not sure what the current view is.

The noise of tractors wouldn't bother me.

One field? Agricultural activity will be minimally disruptive in the grand scheme of things.

If be more concerned about it being sold and more houses built on it.

I live surrounded by fields.
They do harvest late into the night but only 3 or 4 times a summer, depending on how the crop has grown.
We have double glazing and barely hear them.

I have missed all 3 harvests this year, which is a shame because I enjoy watching them.

Lived opposite one in germany, kids loved sitting on front door step watching the tractors at the various points in the year. Cant say I ever remember the cars or house windows ever being dusty either and the set up was front of house, pavement, road, field, no fences or anything.

Harvest will take 1-2 days, planting another 1-2 days and it will depend if it is organic or not as to what spraying will take place. But approximately 95% of the year it will just be a field.

Just enjoy having a field rather than noisy neighbours playing music and cutting their lawn!

We live near to working arable farms (not next door) and there is some impressive machinery going down the lane and harvesting goes on till very late but other than that we enjoy being able to live in the countryside.

A farmer would:
harvest
cultivate - maybe twice. Ploughing is mostly a big no now
drill
roll
spray a - 3 ish tomes
fertilise - 3

so 11 days out of 365. And they won’t be full days unless the arable field is 100+ acres. Probably a few hours on 11 days.

It would make me wary about having a housing development next to me in the future.

Just make sure you’re not allergic, when they harvest loads of dust/spores gets kicked up.

Thrips invade you when they harvest. Muck spreading smells disgusting. Harvest makes dust. Still worth it.

Don't do it.
It is probably adding 20% to the value of the property.

The only thing that would worry me about it would be how soon it was going to be covered with a solar farm or new houses

Main thing I can remember from living near corn fields was the mice all making a swift exit at harvest time. Straight into our house.

No, not having fields around me would put me off buying.

Minimal days of a bit of noise in order to feed us vs. the traffic, smells and pollution of town living?

If you’re worried about local development there are three things to do:

1. check the local plan
2. visit the local church, get to know th old folk. They’ll know exactly who owns what and what the plans are for it
3. be aware you never own the view

My brother lives next to one and has never mentioned any issues

We are surrounded by fields now, but they are occupied by horses, which obviously has no downsides!

We live opposite fields, def do not buy for the view alone as it is likely to change at some point for housing developments as is ours soon. Noise does not bother us, sometimes the smell is strong but it doesn’t last more than a few days and sometimes no point washing your car until they’ve finished harvesting etc but you get to know when to expect things. It’s actually quite interesting to watch the harvesting etc and the routines they have. Living by fields is an added bonus in my view.

Echo the pp’s saying check for development plans, but bear in mind that it could come along at any time, unless you are in a protected area.

Actual activity is minimal really. Full on for a few days a year. If down a rural lane, it’s mud in winter and dust in summer. Doesn’t bother us, but probably not for the house proud.

And yes - you don’t own the view, unless you buy that too.

i am surrounded by arable fields on three sides, horses on the 4th. I love watching the seasons roll by but I am also concerned by the amount of pesticides we are being exposed to. Would it have stopped me buying the house - a resounding no!

We live surrounded by arable fields on all sides and it’s no problem, occasionally we hear a bird scarer or they harvest early or late but my children have never been woken and we don’t really notice.

Pesticides and housing developments would worry me. Also rats/mice potentially.

We're surrounded by arable fields and I love the sound of tractors running at night, it's oddly comforting. It's never bothered me at all and I'd far rather hear that occasionally in the early hours than road traffic.

My main concern would be spraying (it's made my dogs really unwell on occasion so I'm careful to avoid for a good 72 hours after they have), manure spreading to improve soil, and worst of all if it gets sold for development.