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?

We need a tiktok version of the Archers so younger people can learn the country code.

Yep

There’s a farm near me that has a public footpath through it. They put a fence up but part of the path goes through near where the barns are on one side which can’t be fenced off. There’s a field with livestock on the other side of the path. Sometimes further along the path there’s cows blocking the path so we usually turn back. Most are respectful it’s rare we hear of any incidents. But when there is it’s usually a loose dog worrying sheep.

Unfortunately this cliche is so very true.

Motion sensing sprinklers?

Signage that warns of a new MOD test site and has speakers announcing /sirens periodically?

Gather a big group of your male friends and relatives to hold a “fundraiser” charging a tenner for charity for anyone going through/past?

Honestly, when I saw the title I didn’t think I’d be so very enthusiastically on your side! 💪

Dog fields are very popular now. There’s a trainer local to me who does dog training close to a local farm that a public footpath goes through.

I’ve walked in the countryside for decades, I’m a longtime member of the Ramblers. No dog, never litter, avoid all livestock as much as possible and always try to stick to the path.
I have OS maps but sometimes a path is diverted, usually due to landowner request, so I follow signs where I can. This is easy where there’s an old fashioned “public footpath” finger post pointing in the right direction, but if there’s a four inch high yellow arrow in a hedge, at waist height, on the other side of a field there is no way I’m going to be able to see it. Nervous of cattle, I like to know where my next exit is, but I can end up going the wrong way or via several field corners. Please could we make public paths accessible for as many people as possible.

I greatly appreciate the recent increase in fenced footpaths and am sorry that it’s been prompted by
the inexcusable behaviour described above.

Yes me too I remember learning about styles. It’s just the minority that don’t respect the right of way. I remember a few years ago in the lakes parents were seem allowing their children to chase sheep. One was a pregnant ewe. Parents just stood there laughing.

Right of access in Scotland is on foot access only . Lost count of the number of twats I've had to advise near me that "wild" camping does not include fucking Campervans grrr!

Get a really aggressive horse. Works here. He scares off anyone rude enough to trespass.

Ridiculous. I feel sorry for people trying to make a living.

This was one farmers solution to this problem. Other reports on this have said how upset dog walkers are that they cannot poop and run https://metro.co.uk/2014/05/10/farmer-turns-field-into-high-security-prison-with-fence-to-keep-out-dog-walkers-4723469/

So many are selfish entitled idiots. Only yesterday my friend told me about a dog walker parked in front of her gate to a field which is signed 'no parking access needed at all times'. She came along with the tractor couldn't get past, asked her to move and the reply was could she just wait while she just walked her dogs around the field.

Some dog owners actually think they don't need to clear up dog mess, because it's the countryside!

You're quite right I live near sheep and they are constantly in a state of heightened anxiety even when there's literally no threat, so it makes me sad to think of them being harmed. They are such totally gormless creatures. Your term of "sheepy business" made me proper chuckle.

I remember telling a friend about having to keep her dog on a lead as farmers will shoot and kill the dog if it’s running around the sheep. She was horrified that the farmer could do that. Then I told her that she could then receive a huge fine and criminal conviction. She was totally unaware of this and is not one of those entitled arseholes.
Maybe it would help to remind people of this.

Some people are just arseholes. We have an area close by that is on land accessed by the public. It is also one of the few places in London where skylarks nest. To walk and hear them knowing you are in our capital city is an awesome experience. They nest on the ground so agreement was reached that an decent sized area could be designated as closed to the public and dogs for a few months while the larks fledged. Volunteers spent time and effort putting up explanatory signs and simple thick string/ thin rope barriers to remind people and ask them to keep their dogs out of the area. The area is tiny compared to the land still available, imagine a capital O in the middle of this post for comparison. Idiots went out and cut the string/rope. The volunteers mended it. The idiots cut it, the volunteers mended it, and so it went on. And when someone asked one of the idiots they said “ I don’t like being told what to do.”

All ours on the yard are soft as brushes sadly!
More likely to go over for a pat and a fuss. I did have a gelding who was prone to dog chasing but we kept him out of the field that the footpath goes through, just incase. That didn’t stop a few dogs from jumping through the fence and joining him mind you… though they came out a lot faster than they went in! 😂

A few people have expressed they wish we had the right to roam here like they do in Scotland, but I think you’d be hard pushed to find many land owners who agreed with that. Unfortunately the general public just can’t be trusted with their dogs or their litter. They also have little understanding of the importance of crops to food production.

Ive ordered some more signs as a result of this thread and it’s nice to see that there are still some decent people out there who are as annoyed about it as I am. Solidarity to fellow land owners facing this daily battle and thank you to the walkers out there who do respect the countryside and people’s land. It’s helpful sometimes to be reminded that not all humans are arseholes!

That works in Scotland because there are very few defined public footpaths. There is no need. In England and Wales the footpath has to follow the exact route recorded on the definitive rights of way map and statement.

The OP could provide an alternative permissive path around the field perimeter but they would still have to ensure that the official footpath remains open and usable by anybody who wants to use it.

I was going to say something like 'dog's will be shot' might work & I am a huge dog lover & also respectful of footpaths. Good luck

Sounds like a plan, @Pricelessadvice . Living near sheep farms has opened my eyes a bit. Local farmers have suffered too much expensive and distressing loss.
I suspect that many selfish dog owners in the cities, who take their animals into every cafe and shop with little consideration, are just being similarly entitled and oblivious. Except with more serious outcomes.

YANBU. As someone who hikes I am meticulous about sticking to the path, not least because I don't want to walk miles out of my way across muddy fields. I'm bloody infuriated by the number of people I see letting their dogs run loose, to say nothing of the dogs that run up to me and the owners can't call them off. It's the attitude since COVID that rules are for other people and the problem is that selfish people make it more difficult for everyone.

YANBU, op. Our public footpath network is such a huge privilege, it’s horrible that some people abuse them - and you.

Im curious as to whether bad behaviour when crossing farmland is ubiquitous across the U.K. is ubiquitous or if there are some areas which are particularly afflicted.

I'm a dog owner/walker, and am infuriated by the amount of owners who never pick up their dog mess. We live in a lovely village where most fields have PROW meaing you can walk miles and never go near a road. But it's ruining the beautiful walks we have around us (partly in thanks to a new 80 home housing estate where most homes have a bloody cockapoo in a coat so it stays clean ). The local farmers have engaged with the parish council/village facebook pages and it's made no difference whatsoever. One farmer is now threatening CCTV in a few of the fields in desperation. I can't get my head around it.

I really like this. Probably expensive though.