Approaching a farmer to ask for a flying field

[Ralph C]

Does anyone know of the best approach to finding a farmer to ask permission for flying over their land?

What is the going rate for paying someone to be allowed to fly over their land? £30 a month?

Any ideas appreciated since my local BMFA place is mostly indoors only.

Thanks.

[John Lee]

Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here.

[Brian Cooper]

Whatever you do, Ralph, it would be wise to wait until the lockdown has thoroughly ended before approaching any farmers.

Good luck with the quest.

B. C.

[Jon H]

My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year.

[Ralph C]

Posted by John Lee on 04/05/2020 09:21:28:

Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here.

Thanks, I had no idea about that.

[Ralph C]

Posted by Brian Cooper on 04/05/2020 10:00:57:

Whatever you do, Ralph, it would be wise to wait until the lockdown has thoroughly ended before approaching any farmers.

Good luck with the quest.

B. C.

Yes, I won't be doing anything for a couple of weeks.

[Ralph C]

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53:

My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year.

10k!!!

Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part.

[Ralph C]

Posted by John Lee on 04/05/2020 09:21:28:

Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here.

Ah, turns out I can't access that as I need a Microsoft account. Any chance you could post it here? Thanks.

[Jon H]

Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:10:21:

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53:

My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year.

10k!!!

Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part.

The problem is in this area anyway the farmers all know what the land is worth and what they can get away with. They also see it as a hassle as there are people tramping all over their land, a potential noise issue, and not to mention irate locals complaining about 'drones'.

The other thing is that not many farmers these days own the land so they have to kick it back to them for permission, then they want a slice, then there is the tax, planning permission, will it impact other activities like falling off horses or shooting pheasants. If so and that stuff needs to be moved they want 'compensation' so the cost rises.

To be clear, this was for a club of 100 flying all types of model. If its just you and a foamy then you might do a little better.

[Peter Miller]

Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:10:21:

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53:

My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year.

10k!!!

Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part.

We pay £1000 a year.

It helps if you have a small club as they often don't like the idea of masses of cars parking round their yards

The type of model that you all fly can be a major factor as well. For example smaller two strokes. four strokes and electric power are all far more acceptable.

Small private airstrips are good places to try. The sort with just one or two aircraft based there.

Stress the fact that you are all insured and that the farmer is also covered by our insurance.

For years our small club had three different fields which we rotated round, all of which were actually free

.One of these we shared with full size flying but only the odd aircraft movement and weknew that as soon as an aircraft started we all landed and if we saw an aircraft in the circuit we all landed at once.

The owner of the strip was an avid home builder and we were treated as equals.

[stu knowles]

For a club base:-

Depending on the land, an annual rent of £120 to £150 an acre would be a going rate for agricultural purposes. Three of four acres would make a good patch.

Overflying the surrounding fields is usually catered for by bottle of a good malt each year

Next big problem, how are you going to cut it??

As an individual, its unlikely that anything that you could reasonably pay will be worth his while so you need to find a friend who will put up with you.

[Alan Gorham_]

Ralph there is no best way to go about this.

Bear in mind a few things:

1. If the farmer is not using the field to actively grow crops then it is likely that he is being paid to set it aside. He will be reluctant to let you use the field in case he should lose this payment which is likely to be more than you may be prepared to compensate him for.

2. If he is actively growing crops or using the field for livestock, your flying will be viewed at the least as a nuisance, at worst as an impediment to the faming activity.

3. Consider how you will get access to the field...will it involve you using an access road and/or a gate into the field. Will you be blocking access for farm vehicles if you want to park a car? Will you be adding wear and tear to the field and it's access by using your car?

4. Is it just you accessing the field or will other local modellers want to use it?

Having been down this road before, I can say that cold calling wasn't really fruitful. Knowing someone who knew the farmer to make an introduction was our way to a solution.

[Dickw]

Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:15:35:

Posted by John Lee on 04/05/2020 09:21:28:

Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here.

Ah, turns out I can't access that as I need a Microsoft account. Any chance you could post it here? Thanks.

I got the same result first time I tried that link, but it seems to be working OK now and you don't need an MS Account.

Dick

[Peter Miller]

Posted by stu knowles on 04/05/2020 11:27:09:

For a club base:-

Depending on the land, an annual rent of £120 to £150 an acre would be a going rate for agricultural purposes. Three of four acres would make a good patch.

Overflying the surrounding fields is usually catered for by bottle of a good malt each year

Next big problem, how are you going to cut it??

As an individual, its unlikely that anything that you could reasonably pay will be worth his while so you need to find a friend who will put up with you.

2 acres gives you a 100 yard square field

[Wilco Wingco]

Just tried and been told I do need a Microsoft account ???

[John Lee]

Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:15:35:

Posted by John Lee on 04/05/2020 09:21:28:

Welcome Ralph. For starters have a read of the BMFA's booklet 'Model Flyers & Farmers', which you can download here.

Ah, turns out I can't access that as I need a Microsoft account. Any chance you could post it here? Thanks.

Afraid I don't know why you got that message, I don't have a Microsoft account & in fact accessed it on a Mac. You could try going through BMFA Home>Documents>Club Support Documents. I can't post it here, there is no support for posting .pdf files on this site I'm afraid.

[Gary Manuel]

Posted by Wilco Wingco on 04/05/2020 12:31:41:

Just tried and been told I do need a Microsoft account ???

Try THIS

[FlyinBrian]

Get the BMFA involved! - if this is a club thing, they have some very clever people who have assisted in gaining/keeping fields for many years. A quick call or email to the office will get you started.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Well, I keep getting the M$ message - try this link instead.

I'm a little curious - you say the local BMFA [club?] is "mostly indoors" - does this mean they have access to a flying site but it's not used much? If that's the case, can't you use it if you join - you'll be no worse off than going it alone if nobody else turns up!

Whereabouts are you? There could be forum members with local knowledge...

[Andy Stephenson]

I was also interested in this document so I will post the link from the BMFA website and see if it works here...

BMFA Farmers

This one works for me whereas the others involve M$ for some unaccountable reason.

A.

Edited By Andy Stephenson on 04/05/2020 14:21:41

[Andy Stephenson]

One thing rarely mentioned about clubs on farmer's fields is that some farmers feel quite isolated and a friendly group meeting on their land may serve to dissuade some of the less welcome element in society appearing when they see people about regularly. We also found that if someone in the club has farming experience it gets lots of brownie points if help is offered occasionally to the farmer if they need something.

A.

[Peter Miller]

There is another factor.

Model aircraft keep the woodpidgeons off the crops.

[Ralph C]

Posted by Peter Miller on 04/05/2020 11:25:36:

Posted by Ralph C on 04/05/2020 11:10:21:

Posted by Jon - Laser Engines on 04/05/2020 10:19:53:

My old club did this and its going to cost them 10 grand a year.

10k!!!

Farmers must be much better off than I thought. Maybe I have far too much optimism on how much this will cost. I was hoping £1k a year would make a farmer happy since it would be zero effort on his part.

We pay £1000 a year.

It helps if you have a small club as they often don't like the idea of masses of cars parking round their yards

The type of model that you all fly can be a major factor as well. For example smaller two strokes. four strokes and electric power are all far more acceptable.

Small private airstrips are good places to try. The sort with just one or two aircraft based there.

Stress the fact that you are all insured and that the farmer is also covered by our insurance.

For years our small club had three different fields which we rotated round, all of which were actually free

.One of these we shared with full size flying but only the odd aircraft movement and weknew that as soon as an aircraft started we all landed and if we saw an aircraft in the circuit we all landed at once.

The owner of the strip was an avid home builder and we were treated as equals.

I will take note of the insurance tip as well as looking at private airstrips. Currently my drone is in a cycleable state but my next drone is bigger so I will have to use a car.

[Ralph C]

Posted by stu knowles on 04/05/2020 11:27:09:

For a club base:-

Depending on the land, an annual rent of £120 to £150 an acre would be a going rate for agricultural purposes. Three of four acres would make a good patch.

Overflying the surrounding fields is usually catered for by bottle of a good malt each year

Next big problem, how are you going to cut it??

As an individual, its unlikely that anything that you could reasonably pay will be worth his while so you need to find a friend who will put up with you.

Preodminantly I will be test flying my own invention of drone so vertical take offs will be the norm. i.e. no grass cutting!
I got my maths wrong before and in fact £30 a month = £360ish a year would be a nice amount to pay.

[Ralph C]

Posted by Alan Gorham_ on 04/05/2020 11:29:54:

Ralph there is no best way to go about this.

Bear in mind a few things:

1. If the farmer is not using the field to actively grow crops then it is likely that he is being paid to set it aside. He will be reluctant to let you use the field in case he should lose this payment which is likely to be more than you may be prepared to compensate him for.

2. If he is actively growing crops or using the field for livestock, your flying will be viewed at the least as a nuisance, at worst as an impediment to the faming activity.

3. Consider how you will get access to the field...will it involve you using an access road and/or a gate into the field. Will you be blocking access for farm vehicles if you want to park a car? Will you be adding wear and tear to the field and it's access by using your car?

4. Is it just you accessing the field or will other local modellers want to use it?

Having been down this road before, I can say that cold calling wasn't really fruitful. Knowing someone who knew the farmer to make an introduction was our way to a solution.

Good points.

My current plan is to join local Facebook groups and see if anyone knows a friendly farmer.

I would definitely not be flying near animals as I am aware they can be disturbed by flying things.