AIBU to be fed up with walkers trespassing on our land?

[Pricelessadvice]

We have a family farm that, unfortunately, has a footpath that runs through it.
The footpath turns and goes into some woods and off our property but many people ignore the turn and just carry on around our land. This is mostly dog walkers. They then let their dog crap on our fields and just leave it. We take a crop off the land- some years a hay crop, some years beans, others wheat- but people just don’t seem to care.
I am always polite when I see someone trespassing. I ask them if they know they have left the footpath and I point them back in the direction of it. 9 people out of 10 get really arsey about it. I get all the excuses in the book- “it’s just fields/I always walk here/I can do what I want/it’s just grass/other people do it”
Ive had off lead dogs chasing my liveries horses (who have permission to ride the headlands), sheep being worried, the list goes on.

There are plenty of signs telling people where the footpath is and where it isn’t, but they get ignored.

When I try to explain to people that they wouldn’t like it if I walked my dogs in their garden every day and let them poo everywhere, they just argue that it’s not the same coz “these are fields”
SIGH
The Covid year was a bloody nightmare with people wandering everywhere.
When did people get so entitled? AIBU to think that people just think they can do whatever the hell they want nowadays?

Fences cost a lot of money.

Surely the idiots are the ones who read the signs and ignore them?

You need to put up a sign saying 'This field contains crops. These crops are our livelihood and this is private land. Please do not walk any further as you will be trespassing. Thank you.'

And maybe another sign at the bit where they veer off the footpath. Just saying to please continue to follow it?

That's if you can't reasonably fence it off.

The path turns to to the right 90degrees and there is a sign saying “footpath this way” with an arrow and then a sign pointing forwards (to the private land) saying “private land, please keep off”. Then about 100 yards further up this private land, there’s a sign saying “you are now trespassing” and an arrow showing where the footpath went.
There is a worn track onto the private land as my liveries are allowed to ride the headlands on their horses and I walk my own dogs that way daily.

Most of the walkers coming through aren’t ramblers who are here for the first time, they are local dog walkers. A lot of them are amazing and I am friendly with loads of them as they live in the village. They also try to help me and will remind people if they see them heading the wrong way.

For the poster who said that my use of the word ‘unfortunate’ is very telling, well sadly, that’s what the public do to you! I am fed up of my cats being chased by off lead dogs (despite signs saying please keep your dogs on leash around the farm house and yard), fed up of dog poo by my garden gate…
The footpath goes through one of our grazing fields aswell but to protect everyone, we fenced the horses off, effectively losing a huge strip of our grazing land. But I felt it was safer for walkers aswell as I know people can be wary of being in fields with horses.
I’m actually not a dragon and I’m quite a reasonable person! People seem to want to paint me as a grumpy farmer but I leave that to part to my uncle when he’s about 😂

I walk in the countryside a lot (without a dog) and really appreciate landowners like the OP who have clear signs. There are some who will do everything in their power to hide the public footpath which means that you run the risk of accidentally trespassing. Some people are really rude and it’s not on, they should be following the path.

is the way they’re going a shortcut?

The boundaries probably are fenced. The issue is that a public right of way may not follow the boundary.

I think the idea of checking your land on all trails etc is a good one as you may find routes online that have the wrong pathway with people following in good faith.

The littler, dog mess and rudeness is inexcusable though. No harm in some out of control for will be shot signs though even if you have no intention of following through

We also have one lady who pops her dog in the gate at the top of a field and walks the road to meet the dog at the bottom gate, this keeps her boots clean. It means that she can not see what is in the field, can't see her dog and definitely has no control over it.

Fence in, with high fences even if it’s a pain for you. People will not listen, they do not care and will keep doing it. We’re in a similar boat, we’ve had cars on our fields recently, people just do not give a fuck.

If you stick to the perimeter of all the fields, it loops back to the other side of the farm, so some local people see it as a great dog walk because their dog is basically off lead the whole way, there’s no traffic and it takes them back to the starting point at the other end of the footpath. It’s around a 25 minute walk to do the loop. We have a few residential roads nearby and it seems people seem the farm as their own private dog walking route.
I’m now wondering whether I could make some money out of this - an annual fee for dog walking rights!😅 (that’s a joke by the way!)

shotgun

"Fence it off" - as if that isn't going to cost thousands, and shouldn't be necessary 🤦

Why should op pay a lot of money for a fence?
I do a lot of countryside walking. It’s so annoying when the paths aren’t clear or where the farmers make access deliberately difficult but it sounds as if op has done all the right things.
OP is right. People are getting more entitled n general but since covid we seem to be at peak dog where everyone thinks the world revolves around their pet and that everyone loves dogs.

We have this on our land , we’ve put signs and “dummy “ cameras, also attend a local meeting if your village / town has one? Signs & arrows too. I know lots ignore them but as you can’t easily fence it it’s the only thing you can do really. Highly frustrating.

Of course it shouldn’t, but if the OP is sure her signage is clear, the route of the path is unambiguous and it’s not wrongly marked on maps or local walking guides, she’s continually dealing with trespassers being aggressive, and the problem of dogshit in her crop, I’m not sure what’s left other than to apply for the path to be rerouted, if that’s possible, or to fence off her crop?

IME, most ramblers and dog walkers absolutely do get arsey when challenged. I had dog walkers letting their dogs chase my horses, whacking my horses with those ski stick things, stuffing their crisp bags and pop bottles into my dry stone walls, climbing over the dry stone walls and pulling the top stones off because they were too bloody lazy to use the stiles (on one memorable occasion because their fat arse was too wide to fit through the stile).

I electric fenced the entire place but it was still a nightmare, almost daily I'd find the posts pulled out of the ground, gates left open.

So I moved to France, bought a property in the middle of nowhere, with no footpaths or rights of way. Now I have to contend with pissed up arseholes with guns and untrained hunt dogs running all over my land for 6 months of the year, chasing my horses and killing my chooks.

Never ceases to amaze me that folk think they can do whatever they hell they want on someone else's property. Sympathies OP.

Fences are the answer or put up a big sign at the footpath turn which says private property keep off, stay on path

I believe you OP - some people just do not care.
I walk my dog a lot and the amount of litter and dog poo just left in our beautiful woods and fields - and along the roads in our village - is a travesty.
I've started picking it up myself, as I walk, because I can't stand it.

We have a footpath that crosses our farm. Thankfully, people do stick to the path as otherwise you’d have to go up and down a steep hill and it’s obviously in view of our house, so walking off the footpath would bring them closer to us and they don’t tend to do that.

I think electric fencing without a gate is the way to go. Non-farming people are very nervous about electric fences. Don’t give them a way through, no access to any way to disconnect it on the public side. You may loose a bit of usable land, but would save the aggro.

It’s infuriating. Dh owns some fields and there is a public footpath which runs through it. Family keep horses on the fields. People would let their dogs off lead, running amok and shitting everywhere. We’ve had Heras style 7ft high metal fencing installed so any walkers and dogs are effectively in a metal cage walking through the field and are restricted to the path. Looks awful, does the job. The locals were enraged.

We have found other people using our fields which don’t have a footpath as a secure dog paddock. They literally drive up, throw the dog over the gate and stand watching them. I had a particularly heated argument once with someone who was adamant he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Was blatantly not going to pick poo up. Had no concept of moving livestock into their for grazing and the danger of dog poo. Said there was no sign saying it was private. So I said I’d come and sit in his back garden which I bet didn’t have a private sign on it either.

Either electric fence it or get one of them bird scares that goes off intermittently and scare the buggers off
some dog owners think they have the right to roam free

Put up a sign saying ‘danger. Unexploded bomb’. You can buy them online

I don't know much about countryside law, and I know it's different in different parts of the UK (Scotland vs England for example), but is there a way to embrace the inevitable and make a fenced path through your fields following the route generally taken? Are there perhaps grants available for that?

We have a footpath too. Agree with earlier posters that extremely obvious signage is the way to go. We also make the route obvious in all seasons (so it’s always mown low while the grass around is always higher). The worst is when they take blossom or fruit from the trees…but there’s only the odd one that does that! I love walking too so am very appreciative of footpaths… I got lost on one yesterday that was badly signed and am apologetic if a landowner comes to berate me (but I often point out politely that their signage needs updating and I might be off route because they’ve blocked off a style or locked a gate etc). Luckily ours is really only used by neighbours and the odd walking group!

Yabu trying to grow FOOD in the dog walkers private playground. Dogs have the right to be everywhere niw.

Same people probably complain about their supermarket shop being too expensive.

I live in a semi rural area having grown up in a town. It never fails to amaze me the number of people who think walking a dog through a field of cows is ok!

just because it’s a footpath doesn’t mean it’s always suitable for dogs!

someone actually took a video of their (admittedly small) dog “playing” with sheep!