farmers grrrr

cockerdog

Well-Known Member
I cant say I have the greatest love for farmers, true there are a few genuine ones out there who really do care for the countryside and do there bit for conservation but the majority I have come across over the years are money grabbing greedy sods who plough every last inch, pull out as much hedge line and rough field corner as they can. If a fence has been knocked down by stock into a wood, so what its a bit of extra grazing until its fixed by someone else.
I know many rely on them for there sport, fortunatly on the whole I dont and its the tennant farmers I generally have to deal with and the one today stopped me in my tracks and made me so mad I had to take a quiet walk to calm down.

Pulling into the farm yard in the truck a head pops out from behind a door "afternoon keeper" hollers the tennant, afternoon back I reply.
"your cover crop up over yonder" yes what about it
"sheep have been in it and knocked a few feeders down" cue heart sinking into stomach
Im not bothered about a few feeders, what about the crop
"well it will hold a few birds" cue blood starting to boil
"Well they have had a good belly full" Just how much ******* damage have they done
"Id better not loose any sheep with what they have eaten" time to walk away

So off I drive to have a look with a sick feeling in my throat.....2 acres of fantastic game crop gone on what is one of the best drives I have.
It had to be resown in july, and I had to spray it off with a knapsack twice so as not to upset the tennant incase in knocked over a few stalks of wheat getting to it.
The cost of a man with tractor twice to sow it and to spead muck, the cost of seed, my time and effort going into it and the loss of 2 acres of winter feed for the farmland birds not to mention ive lost a major drive in the centre of the north beat of the shoot and I didnt even get a sorry from the git.
Rant over
 
Heard similar stories too many times re: sheep getting into cover crops, and likewise never an apology offered.

I bet he would be round in a flash if any of his sheep bloat after eating your wheat!
 
The last farmer I keepered for was exactly the same mate only ever thinking about his pockets he never repaired fences letting his sheep on every one else's land to feed. they were always knocking over feeders. His animal husbandry was terrible I had to pull sheep out of bramble all the time chase them off the rail track pull the dead ones out the water tank. I now keeper for a farmer who is totally different its all about the birds what ever they need cover thick hedges best wheat I'm only aloud to feed them best milling wheat no tail ends. The best thing is it was in the paper the other week the farmer I used to keeper for was fined a thousand pounds for leaving dead live stock on a sea wall :lol: that will hurt him.
 
I cant say I have the greatest love for farmers, true there are a few genuine ones out there who really do care for the countryside and do there bit for conservation but the majority I have come across over the years are money grabbing greedy sods who plough every last inch, pull out as much hedge line and rough field corner as they can. If a fence has been knocked down by stock into a wood, so what its a bit of extra grazing until its fixed by someone else.
I know many rely on them for there sport, fortunatly on the whole I dont and its the tennant farmers I generally have to deal with and the one today stopped me in my tracks and made me so mad I had to take a quiet walk to calm down.

Pulling into the farm yard in the truck a head pops out from behind a door "afternoon keeper" hollers the tennant, afternoon back I reply.
"your cover crop up over yonder" yes what about it
"sheep have been in it and knocked a few feeders down" cue heart sinking into stomach
Im not bothered about a few feeders, what about the crop
"well it will hold a few birds" cue blood starting to boil
"Well they have had a good belly full" Just how much ******* damage have they done
"Id better not loose any sheep with what they have eaten" time to walk away

So off I drive to have a look with a sick feeling in my throat.....2 acres of fantastic game crop gone on what is one of the best drives I have.
It had to be resown in july, and I had to spray it off with a knapsack twice so as not to upset the tennant incase in knocked over a few stalks of wheat getting to it.
The cost of a man with tractor twice to sow it and to spead muck, the cost of seed, my time and effort going into it and the loss of 2 acres of winter feed for the farmland birds not to mention ive lost a major drive in the centre of the north beat of the shoot and I didnt even get a sorry from the git.
Rant over

I don't understand how sheep could get into your game cover, if it was properly fenced.

Are you saying the farmer wrecked the fence to let his sheep in?... As that would be pretty risky for him on several counts, not least because a belly full of grain could bloat and kill his sheep. So it seems unlikely that he would do that.
 
Tenant farmers :rolleyes: i had one whos sheep would climb a wall to get at feeders , "thall cum oot lad win thir ready " one wet sunday i phoned him same old story so i told him id start shooting them in half an hour "top class swale tups them al be uup " 15 minutes later they were out and he was fixing the wall top fence
 
So how did they get through your fence? Maybe you could ask these damm tenant farmers to show you how to do it properly.

GT
 
My view on it is, if it's an informal lease/whatever, you need to pay more care to how you protect your investment, if on the other hand you have a written agreement, then it should mention situations like these.
 
Surely it's more in your interests to keep an eye on the fencing to keep the woollie maggots out.
 
If there were no "farmers" you would have no shoot. But i would be willing to risk it!!
 
I don't understand how sheep could get into your game cover, if it was properly fenced.

Are you saying the farmer wrecked the fence to let his sheep in?... As that would be pretty risky for him on several counts, not least because a belly full of grain could bloat and kill his sheep. So it seems unlikely that he would do that.

Theres nothing wrong with the fencing in this case, more the two sets of gates leading up to the perticular crop, the last which was and I repeat 'was' chained and padlocked, strange how it vanished.
This unfortunatly is an age old problem with this tennant and where ever his stock break in, he wont repair it, or tell me that his stock have broken a fence down.
 
I cant say I have the greatest love for farmers, true there are a few genuine ones out there who really do care for the countryside and do there bit for conservation but the majority I have come across over the years are money grabbing greedy sods who plough every last inch, pull out as much hedge line and rough field corner as they can. If a fence has been knocked down by stock into a wood, so what its a bit of extra grazing until its fixed by someone else.
I know many rely on them for there sport, fortunatly on the whole I dont and its the tennant farmers I generally have to deal with and the one today stopped me in my tracks and made me so mad I had to take a quiet walk to calm down.

Pulling into the farm yard in the truck a head pops out from behind a door "afternoon keeper" hollers the tennant, afternoon back I reply.
"your cover crop up over yonder" yes what about it
"sheep have been in it and knocked a few feeders down" cue heart sinking into stomach
Im not bothered about a few feeders, what about the crop
"well it will hold a few birds" cue blood starting to boil
"Well they have had a good belly full" Just how much ******* damage have they done
"Id better not loose any sheep with what they have eaten" time to walk away

So off I drive to have a look with a sick feeling in my throat.....2 acres of fantastic game crop gone on what is one of the best drives I have.
It had to be resown in july, and I had to spray it off with a knapsack twice so as not to upset the tennant incase in knocked over a few stalks of wheat getting to it.
The cost of a man with tractor twice to sow it and to spead muck, the cost of seed, my time and effort going into it and the loss of 2 acres of winter feed for the farmland birds not to mention ive lost a major drive in the centre of the north beat of the shoot and I didnt even get a sorry from the git.
Rant over

You forgot to mention what the yearly rent was for your patch, or does he give it for free !

keeping large amounts of land, fenced etc isnt cheep, or a quick job. The countryside is the countryside & as so not a well maintained manacured country garden. These things happen with unfortunate results . Keeping any game /livestock etc is work, work & work & should be checked over daily , or a few time s a week, its just one of those things , wether sheep get into you crops or his. Im sure theres a favour some place on his/your side too. Good luck.
 
Well i am giving my vote to the farmers who let me shoot on their land :D one of them I don't see too much of but he's a very nice chap and the other is a first class guy who always talks away to you whenever i go up .....wish there were more like them !!! Alhough i am sorry to hear of your trouble with fence's
 
Learn to fence, sheep will find the smallest hole, also if you have deer they will eat your cover as well, are you really suggesting that the tenant farmer removed the chain and lock, also from your first post are you sure your in the right job and hobby, quote there are a few genuine ones who really care about the countryside,
So you run a shoot for the good of the countryside do you, no enjoyment, don,t need a wage.
 
Learn to fence, sheep will find the smallest hole, also if you have deer they will eat your cover as well, are you really suggesting that the tenant farmer removed the chain and lock, also from your first post are you sure your in the right job and hobby, quote there are a few genuine ones who really care about the countryside,
So you run a shoot for the good of the countryside do you, no enjoyment, don,t need a wage.

Thanks for that sunshine, funny thing is I'm very capable of fencing and have no need to learn anymore.
As for being in the right job well that's my business, but after all the conservation work I put in, much of it in my own time and over the years alot at my own expense while all the time often seeing it destroyed by greed.
And believe it or not in your case yes the lock was removed, funny thing was I fitted another and last week found it laying on the ground.
I know that there are the good out there unfortunately there are more who only care about making as much cash as possible, and on the subject of cash, I entered keeping quarter of a century ago because of my love for our countryside, you find me a keeper who does it for the money its poorly paid with long hours so no I don't do it for the wage but more to the point I don't need the wage anymore I do it for the love,of the job, even at 9am this morning when I faced down four rough ass lurched lads.....and where were the tenants then eh
 
I don't do it for the wage but more to the point I don't need the wage anymore I do it for the love,of the job, even at 9am this morning when I faced down four rough ass lurched lads.....and where were the tenants then eh
good on ya:thumb: wish i had gone into keepering when i left school, trying to find a job now is like trying to get stalking ground:cry:
regards, Jez
 
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