Am I a cf for asking a farmer this question?

[Whye]

We want to buy a house which is off a rarely used but fast winding country lane - only wide enough for one car. The speed limit is 30 but we have seen cars zooming along. I would not feel safe walking my dog on these country roads. There are some woods nearby but I would probably have to load dogs up each time for the 2 min drive.

There are fields all around. Would I be cheeky to ask the farmer who owns the fields opposite us if I could potentially walk my dogs on the perimeter of his fields, obviously I will pick up messes and be respectful.

We would be 5 mins from a decent sized market town so there are plenty of options just not convenient. Am I being cheeky?

Incorrect - if the farmer gave verbal permission, OP could deny this ever happened and there would be no evidence of this

Went to B&Q with my DH one afternoon and actually had to pull him aside and stop him asking an assistant a question and to let me do it instead. He stank to high heaven of pig shit. We left very quickly afterwards. it becomes ingrained. if you want to know one type of farming never to get into, it's pigs. no money in pigs. thankfully we sell it direct to consumer now so still do a few each year as the difference between shop bought and home reared is massive. i'm digressing, sorry.

I would say no. He owns the land and doesn’t know you or your dogs so there is nothing in it for him and your dogs pose a potential risk to any animals he has or crops and he only has your word for it that you will clear up? Why are you more special than all the other dog owning locals? If he allows you others may think it is ok for them to walk their dogs there too and it will just end up being a giant ball ache for him. I wouldn’t let a total stranger have the roam of my farmland and woods. Look elsewhere for a property.

Most of us pop it in an email to confirm what was discussed.

But what you are talking about is a question of evidence. If a person gives permission it does not become a right.

He won’t mind as long as you bear several things in mind. It’s not a dog park it’s working land. He might have people shooting on it, he might spray it ( you’ll need to let it rain before walking in it or it’ll be potential hazardous shortly thereafter, and always close all gates and keep dog on lead. Don’t go in with livestock- a dog on a lead will still make pregnant ewes or cows run and potentially abort and definitely don’t go in with cattle if your nervous of them as you do risk your dog being chased and trampled. As long as you factor such things in and perhaps offer some favour ( eg home baking) in return he’ll see it as a reasonable request I’m sure.

YANBU but I’d probably try and make friends with the farmer first. We live on the back of a farm and over general chats the farmer said we were welcome to walk around the edge of the fields.

It’s a funny one as the landowner may well not be the one who farms the land as parcels of land are often rented and worked by contractors. Also you have to bear in mind rotations and so what may be arable now, might be grazing for livestock in a few years time.

if you won’t buy the house without being able to walk in the neighbouring fields then probably best not to buy the house as any informal
agreements could change quickly. We’re on a farm and don’t mind our neighbour (who has a reactive dog) using some of the fields not near our house for walking in, but we have known her many years, and those fields aren’t ever going to be used for livestock. I wouldn’t allow anyone to walk in our horse fields or the ones nearest to our house. Our neighbouring farmer has a footpath through some of his fields and has dreadful trouble with off lead dogs when he has his sheep in there.

I’m surprised that the single track lane is 30mph as usually they are national speed limit and they are self limiting because of the width and bends in the roads. Our drive comes out onto a single track lane with no verges and 60mph speed limit but in reality it would be impossible to drive faster than 10-20mph along it, so I walk the dogs, ride my horses and let the children ride their bikes along there. It’s perfectly safe and we just tuck into the hedge or find a passing place when a car comes. There isn’t much traffic though I suppose.

No harm in asking the farmer, best way to get to know them but be aware even some arable crops can be poisonous to dogs such as rapeseed. I live rurally nobody by me uses the fields to walk their dogs, there are a feew tracks and rights of way that are used instead and some have set up 'dog friendly walking fields'

There are also "stewardship" grants for farmers that involve leaving the headland of fields untouched to encourage wildlife etc. These grants are dependent on the farmer not allowing anyone on it to walk dogs, ride horses etc. so it may well be that you wouldn't be allowed on it for this reason.

Have you looked at the council/ordnance survey maps to see what footpaths are around there? Often there are rights of way across fields etc.

I’m simply pointing out the fact that - if a farmer was to give VERBAL permission, OP could say she had been using the field without permission in order to try and acquire a right - would the farmer want to take the risk? My neighbour is an elderly farmer and I’m fairly confident he doesn’t use email!

Yes agree - there's some awful stuff going on sometimes such as allowing illlegal fox hunts into their land.
We need a right of responsible access.

Check out this wonderful book by Nick Hayes:

The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us amzn.eu/d/iqIFS9r

The only unlawful and awful things happening on my land is wild campers shitting behind walls and off lead dogs disturbing ground nesting birds.

It is respectful to ask however, have you checked what livestock is on the land? If you intend to walk your dog off lease then I would suspect it would not be acceptable to the farmer. Check You Tube for clarification - it is horrific the damage a dog off lease can do. A lot of dog owners seem to be unaware or don't think their dog will attack / chase in fun another animal to its death.

Don’t buy this house, it’s unsuitable for you. You can’t rely on the goodwill of a farmer, who speaking as someone from a farming family, are mostly a grumpy bunch.

I think you could ask. I've had friends who've had this type of agreement as long as there isn't livestock in there and you don't harm crops. Usually if a road is too dangerous to walk on, there is some sort of footpath nearby so look at an OS map for clues.

Bollocks. Farmers don’t want peon their land because they don’t want crop getting ruined. One of my local farmers has major issues with local yoof shooting his lambs with BB guns. Where’s the animal welfare in that?

Most farmers I know don’t like the hunt as they wreck the land with thier heavy horses, and the dogs barking makes cattle bolt and wreck gates.

Drones are perfect for catching out those who are being illegal.

@OrwellianTimes
How do farmers in Scotland manage this then where people DO have a responsible right of access?

My understanding from my farming friends across the border is that there are just far far fewer people around to traipse about, which makes it just about bearable.

plus those that do still have some inkling that they are on working farmland and don't think that a public footpath = free for all in the field.

@OrwellianTimes
Or these countries?

@Scrowy
We need education, not restrictions.

Sorry, but I don't understand why you'd consider this location when it doesn't work for you.

If you’ve seen the absolute carnage that festival goers in the country manage I wouldn’t trust the general British public with that. The general Bristish public can’t even clear their dog crap off the pavements. Never heard my German friends complaining of having to hose dog crap off their driveway daily - which I’m having to do currently.

Scandinavian countries and Scotland are hardly comparable as they are so sparsely populated.

Some stats on public access in England:

@OrwellianTimes
As I said, we need education, not restrictions.
A festival is a completely different matter than allowing responsible access.
We need more access to know and love the land.