What's the purpose of all the empty fields?

Howdy do folks.

Much like many other people, I'm sure, I can't help but notice, as I drive around the country the last few years, that there seems to be a lot of fields.

Many of them haven't got any fruit or vegetables growing, no farm sheds, no cattle grazing, no tractors or storage sheds, or any signs of life at all.

All look relatively well maintained, though.


Is there an obvious reason for this that I'm missing? Is it just hogging land and not wanting to sell it, or is it used on/off alongside other fields or a specific purpose or what is the general idea?

I often look at houses for sale in rural areas and they're surrounded by just 'green fields' and I often wonder is there a surprise waiting on anyone that buys the house, as one morning unexpectedly a farmer is spreading slurry or moving in the cows or starting work on some other noisy (or smelly) activity that just hasn't started yet that the field is being saved for.

I'm a 'city boy', so I appreciate this may be a silly question.

Cheers.

emaherx

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Howdy do folks.

Much like many other people, I'm sure, I can't help but notice, as I drive around the country the last few years, that there seems to be a lot of fields.

Many of them haven't got any fruit or vegetables growing, no farm sheds, no cattle grazing, no tractors or storage sheds, or any signs of life at all.

All look relatively well maintained, though.


Is there an obvious reason for this that I'm missing? Is it just hogging land and not wanting to sell it, or is it used on/off alongside other fields or a specific purpose or what is the general idea?

I often look at houses for sale in rural areas and they're surrounded by just 'green fields' and I often wonder is there a surprise waiting on anyone that buys the house, as one morning unexpectedly a farmer is spreading slurry or moving in the cows or starting work on some other noisy (or smelly) activity that just hasn't started yet that the field is being saved for.

I'm a 'city boy', so I appreciate this may be a silly question.

Cheers.

If they are green and look well maintained then they most likely have been grazed or will be shortly. Also some grass is allowed grow to be cut for hay/silage to feed animals over the winter. Unused land looses it's well maintained look very quickly. Animals can't be left grazing the same field indefinitely and are rotated through different plots of land as needed.

Penfailed

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Howdy do folks.

Much like many other people, I'm sure, I can't help but notice, as I drive around the country the last few years, that there seems to be a lot of fields.

Many of them haven't got any fruit or vegetables growing, no farm sheds, no cattle grazing, no tractors or storage sheds, or any signs of life at all.

All look relatively well maintained, though.


Is there an obvious reason for this that I'm missing? Is it just hogging land and not wanting to sell it, or is it used on/off alongside other fields or a specific purpose or what is the general idea?

I often look at houses for sale in rural areas and they're surrounded by just 'green fields' and I often wonder is there a surprise waiting on anyone that buys the house, as one morning unexpectedly a farmer is spreading slurry or moving in the cows or starting work on some other noisy (or smelly) activity that just hasn't started yet that the field is being saved for.

I'm a 'city boy', so I appreciate this may be a silly question.

Cheers.

Growing grass for silage...maybe?

Say my name

Sheep numbers 1992 - 8.9 million.
Sheep numbers 2018 - 5.11 million.

Cattle numbers 1998 - 7.64 million.
Cattle numbers 2018 - 7.34 million.

It's noticeable alright. Take a drive up the M11 and there's stacks of baled silage left in the corners of fields made from last year which the field owner presumably had hoped to sell to livestock owners over the winter. But failed to. And now we're into another year's production.

emaherx

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I often look at houses for sale in rural areas and they're surrounded by just 'green fields' and I often wonder is there a surprise waiting on anyone that buys the house, as one morning unexpectedly a farmer is spreading slurry or moving in the cows or starting work on some other noisy (or smelly) activity that just hasn't started yet that the field is being saved for.

This is a part of rural life. Anyone buying a house surrounded by farm land should expect farm noises and smells from time to time. Unfortunately some do buy houses in such areas expecting differently and some even try to make a fuss after they move in but they would be in the minority and soon learn that the farming activity was there before them and won't change. The majority of rural dwellers have lived surrounded by farm land all their lives with many of them having some connection to the land around them.

Danzy

Say my name wrote: »

Sheep numbers 1992 - 8.9 million.
Sheep numbers 2018 - 5.11 million.

Cattle numbers 1998 - 7.64 million.
Cattle numbers 2018 - 7.34 million.

It's noticeable alright. Take a drive up the M11 and there's stacks of baled silage left in the corners of fields made from last year which the field owner presumably had hoped to sell to livestock owners over the winter. But failed to. And now we're into another year's production.

Last year was a massive grass year so lot of spare silage made.

The owner probably has no intention of selling it and is glad to have it in reserve.

Huntergonzo

They could be just part of a paddock grazing system.

Or most likely at this time of year it's silage ground. Farmers usually shut off fields for silage in early April for cutting in mid to late May.

Ps, as for what I call 'rural smells and sounds', people should be prepared for those when they move out to the country. They're not that bad/frequent anyway.

Say my name

Danzy wrote: »

Last year was a massive grass year so lot of spare silage made.

The owner probably has no intention of selling it and is glad to have it in reserve.

Oh definitely.

That said there's a cohort of former livestock keepers gone down the forage making and selling route.

Danzy

Say my name wrote: »

Oh definitely.

That said there's a cohort of former livestock keepers gone down the forage making and selling route.

There is and they have gotten an awful thumping last year and this one.

I've 3 months spare on the slab and 2 months of bales in a field and this years crop will be cut early, as its doing so well.

It lasts for a good few years in the silage pit and I like to use all the bales within 3 years, the one year ideally.

Say my name

Say my name wrote: »

Sheep numbers 1992 - 8.9 million.
Sheep numbers 2018 - 5.11 million.

Cattle numbers 1998 - 7.64 million.
Cattle numbers 2018 - 7.34 million.

It's noticeable alright. Take a drive up the M11 and there's stacks of baled silage left in the corners of fields made from last year which the field owner presumably had hoped to sell to livestock owners over the winter. But failed to. And now we're into another year's production.

Saw bales for sale near me for €11.
Wouldn't even be covering the cost of making them.

Donald Trump

Danzy wrote: »

There is and they have gotten an awful thumping last year and this one.

I've 3 months spare on the slab and 2 months of bales in a field and this years crop will be cut early, as its doing so well.

It lasts for a good few years in the silage pit and I like to use all the bales within 3 years, the one year ideally.

I remember seeing a video of some fellas digging up a reserve of silage in Australia. They had it buried. Dug it up after something like 20 years and it was grand.

I wouldn't chance keeping bales past being used first the second year. Although I know a fella who was stuck with ones 3-4 years old at some stage and he shifted it when there was a severe shortage.



To the OP, the empty fields are as part of an EU scam where the EU pay every single farmer millions of Euro (in cash and bitcoin) to not grow things. Or something like that.

Donald Trump

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Saw bales for sale near me for €11.
Wouldn't even be covering the cost of making them.

We have all the gear here to do the work involved ourselves.
Even given that, if you knew you could get them for 11 Euro, it'd be left in the shed and silage would be bought in

The gear still has to be paid for, but you'd feel sorry for the poor fella who had to hand over a cheque to a contractor, after paying for fertiliser etc, and then get 11 quid a bale for the finished product. He would have been better off to give it away standing in the field.

jfh

Say my name wrote: »

Sheep numbers 1992 - 8.9 million.
Sheep numbers 2018 - 5.11 million.

Cattle numbers 1998 - 7.64 million.
Cattle numbers 2018 - 7.34 million.

It's noticeable alright. Take a drive up the M11 and there's stacks of baled silage left in the corners of fields made from last year which the field owner presumably had hoped to sell to livestock owners over the winter. But failed to. And now we're into another year's production.

Interesting.. Didn't realise the sheep flock dropped that much.

emaherx

Donald Trump wrote: »

We have all the gear here to do the work involved ourselves.
Even given that, if you knew you could get them for 11 Euro, it'd be left in the shed and silage would be bought in

The gear still has to be paid for, but you'd feel sorry for the poor fella who had to hand over a cheque to a contractor, after paying for fertiliser etc, and then get 11 quid a bale for the finished product. He would have been better off to give it away standing in the field.

But the quality would be very much a gamble.

Donald Trump

emaherx wrote: »

But the quality would be very much a gamble.

Yeah of course. I should have qualified that if you knew you could get "good stuff at 11 a bale". I left it as implicit

20silkcut

Back around 2014/15 I had bales for sale at €15 a bale good quality just needed them gone , Offered them to a neighbouring dairy farmer. He didn’t want them. A few weeks later he gave me 200 an acre for conacre to make silage.
The mind boggles. The bales were cut from the same fields the previous year.

Had another lad at the same time who was arguing over the price till I was blue in the face. He was offering €14 a bale. No way would he give €15 eventually told him to f off and I’d eat them myself.
Ended up buying a few more cattle myself after.

Dinzee Conlee

20silkcut wrote: »

Back around 2014/15 I had bales for sale at €15 a bale good quality just needed them gone , Offered them to a neighbouring dairy farmer. He didn’t want them. A few weeks later he gave me 200 an acre for conacre to make silage.
The mind boggles. The bales were cut from the same fields the previous year.

Had another lad at the same time who was arguing over the price till I was blue in the face. He was offering €14 a bale. No way would he give €15 eventually told him to f off and I’d eat them myself.
Ended up buying a few more cattle myself after.

200e an acre for two cuts of silage or just first cut? :eek:

Edit : I guess if you had spread the fertilser, then maybe 200e for first cut isnt that mad...

emaherx

emaherx wrote: »

This is a part of rural life. Anyone buying a house surrounded by farm land should expect farm noises and smells from time to time. Unfortunately some do buy houses in such areas expecting differently and some even try to make a fuss after they move in but they would be in the minority and soon learn that the farming activity was there before them and won't change. The majority of rural dwellers have lived surrounded by farm land all their lives with many of them having some connection to the land around them.

I'd imagine anyone with a bit of common sense would expect to have noises and smells and muck on the road and such if they're buying surrounded by fields.



What I meant was I've just seen many a house for sale with lots of empty fields surrounding them, and indeed, just from driving around in general (nothing related to houses at all) I just notice a lot of them.


The house comment was just a small side remark. Wasn't intending to build the thread around buying a house near a field, more just a general curiousity as to why there would be (to a non-clued-in person) such a large amount of empty fields around the place.

Donald Trump

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd imagine anyone with a bit of common sense would expect to have noises and smells and muck on the road and such if they're buying surrounded by fields.



What I meant was I've just seen many a house for sale with lots of empty fields surrounding them, and indeed, just from driving around in general (nothing related to houses at all) I just notice a lot of them.


The house comment was just a small side remark. Wasn't intending to build the thread around buying a house near a field, more just a general curiousity as to why there would be (to a non-clued-in person) such a large amount of empty fields around the place.

What do you define as "empty"? Just no animals to be seen?

emaherx

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd imagine anyone with a bit of common sense would expect to have noises and smells and muck on the road and such if they're buying surrounded by fields.



What I meant was I've just seen many a house for sale with lots of empty fields surrounding them, and indeed, just from driving around in general (nothing related to houses at all) I just notice a lot of them.


The house comment was just a small side remark. Wasn't intending to build the thread around buying a house near a field, more just a general curiousity as to why there would be (to a non-clued-in person) such a large amount of empty fields around the place.

No of course not, but I gave an answer to the rest of the question also. I thought this bit was worth addressing all the same.

I honestly think a lot of the land you think is empty and unused is infact used, especially if it's land that looks well maintained. Grass land is closed off to allow recover after grazing or to grow Meadows for fodder.


Some land may be used for nothing but fodder in which case will only see activity a hand full of times a year but may be producing hay/silage to feed cattle/sheep for the whole winter. The thing a lot of people don't realize is grass is a crop.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd imagine anyone with a bit of common sense would expect to have noises and smells and muck on the road and such if they're buying surrounded by fields.



What I meant was I've just seen many a house for sale with lots of empty fields surrounding them, and indeed, just from driving around in general (nothing related to houses at all) I just notice a lot of them.


The house comment was just a small side remark. Wasn't intending to build the thread around buying a house near a field, more just a general curiousity as to why there would be (to a non-clued-in person) such a large amount of empty fields around the place.

Cattle would normally be rotated around the farm depending on grass growth rates.

At this time of year, the field the cattle would be in would be rested from cattle, to allow the grass to grow again, for about 16 or 17 days or silage taken off before resting again for the grass to grow again. The resting period would extend out gradually as the year goes on to about 21 or 22 days in late summer out to 40 days + in the autumn/winter.

Some of the fields you see might be spring crops like barley, wheat and oats which wouldn't have any cattle in them (hopefully:eek:) but would have fertiliser and disease spraying going on at different times across the spring and summer.

Huntergonzo

emaherx wrote: »

No of course not, but I gave an answer to the rest of the question also. I thought this bit was worth addressing all the same.

I honestly think a lot of the land you think is empty and unused is infact used, especially if it's land that looks well maintained. Grass land is closed off to allow recover after grazing or to grow Meadows for fodder.


Some land may be used for nothing but fodder in which case will only see activity a hand full of times a year but may be producing hay/silage to feed cattle/sheep for the whole winter. The thing a lot of people don't realize is grass is a crop.

Another thing to consider these days is zero grazing. For those who don't know, this is where the cattle are kept in and the grass is cut and brought to them.

Can't say I know loads of farmers using this system but from what I read and hear it is becoming more popular.

emaherx

Huntergonzo wrote: »

Another thing to consider these days is zero grazing. For those who don't know, this is where the cattle are kept in and the grass is cut and brought to them.

Can't say I know loads of farmers using this system but from what I read and hear it is becoming more popular.

Very little 100% all year zero grazing in Ireland. Although zero grazers are being used more often here in Autumn and Spring.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump wrote: »

We have all the gear here to do the work involved ourselves.
Even given that, if you knew you could get them for 11 Euro, it'd be left in the shed and silage would be bought in

The gear still has to be paid for, but you'd feel sorry for the poor fella who had to hand over a cheque to a contractor, after paying for fertiliser etc, and then get 11 quid a bale for the finished product. He would have been better off to give it away standing in the field.

Cost me €15 a bale with a local contractor last year plus fertilizer and a contractor to spread it. Traded it for a heifer for the freezer and broke even.

Rented the field to him this year and made a few quid.

20silkcut

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

200e an acre for two cuts of silage or just first cut? :eek:

Edit : I guess if you had spread the fertilser, then maybe 200e for first cut isnt that mad...

Two cuts of silage. I didn’t spread any fertilizer.

Donald Trump

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/machinery/how-to-cut-your-silage-baling-bills-39142314.html

80sDiesel

Remember that in the old days farmers didn’t have access to fertilisers so many a field would have been closed off from March/April for the hay cut in July.

tanko

When some of the first artificial fertiliser was spread in my area, a local farmer remarked "isn't it mad that a farmer has to buy the hay off his own meadow".

Hard Knocks

Danzy wrote: »

Last year was a massive grass year so lot of spare silage made.

The owner probably has no intention of selling it and is glad to have it in reserve.

Seen a few farms here with older farmers keeping store bullocks, bought none last year & made all silage
Reason no money in cattle and silage made silly money year before due to heat wave & fodder shortage

_Brian

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Seen a few farms here with older farmers keeping store bullocks, bought none last year & made all silage
Reason no money in cattle and silage made silly money year before due to heat wave & fodder shortage

Silage costing about €20 all costs in, selling for €12-18, wouldn’t say it was much better then rearing cattle.

Hard Knocks

_Brian wrote: »

Silage costing about €20 all costs in, selling for €12-18, wouldn’t say it was much better then rearing cattle.

Agree, but even bad bales were making €45 the year before
Personally I’d prefer to gamble on the animal

Hard Knocks

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Agree, but even bad bales were making €45 the year before
Personally I’d prefer to gamble on the animal

Mine worked out at 20 each. I broke even. I was lucky and I'm still eating the beef:)