Advice on Use of my Field
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If you have local farmers interested in or accustomed to using your land, might that prove awkward if you should decide to sell ? SAFER and all that, or is 1,5 hectares too small for SAFER’s consideration ?
I believe farmers no longer have to purchase the whole package (house etc).
Our farmer contributors can hopefully correct me, if I am ill-informed.
I’m still rooting for the trees. (They are unsurprisingly good at planting themselves, all-be-it with the assistance of jays et-al. Sometimes all that is required is careful mowing, leaving the volunteers).
Anonymous31st December 2020 at 10:06 am #540975Just a quick answer to Seabadger.
If you sell the house with the land , the SAFER cannot make a division .
To plant trees on agricultural land , you need permission from the local committee , it is a change from one category to another , not usually allowed . You can declare the land ” en friche” but then the SAFER can step in and force a sale, especially if there is a young farmer in the area.
The Agricultural laws are to protect the local farmers , from whoever, taking land for non-farming purposes.
The whole multi-parcels of land was subject to SAFER, 15 years ago but it is in excess of 2 hectares in total. I don’t know what the current limits or regulations are.
I’m not inclined to consider selling any part of it, as it is an ideal property for any future equine owner, or even a house building plot at the top of the field.
We do have a large hangar, which is kind of full of tractors, mowers, other equipment, trailers, cars, firewood, building materials, etc, the usual paraphenalia.
The Agricultural laws are to protect the local farmers , from whoever, taking land for non-farming purposes.
It’s a shame trees aren’t offered a similar protection against rampaging farmers. I’ve seen an alarming amount of woodland reclaimed for yet more maize and triticale production in recent years.
Thank you Deboer. I am in no way criticising the agricultural laws, although whether the practise reflexes the laudable aims is a legitimate debate. But it pays to be aware of current rules and if, as you say, there can be no division of house and land offered for sale as one lot, I for one am reassured and Jim has little to worry about on this score.
Anonymous1st January 2021 at 10:17 am #541026The Agricultural laws are to protect the local farmers , from whoever, taking land for non-farming purposes.
It’s a shame trees aren’t offered a similar protection against rampaging farmers. I’ve seen an alarming amount of woodland reclaimed for yet more maize and triticale production in recent years.
More than 25% of agricultural land in the Limousin is ” en friche” this number rises to above 30% in the Correze, where you live Danny . The reason for the abandonment of farms and villages and the the rural depopulation is due to the PAC that favours larger farms , which are easier to control. This depopulation has made it possible for the influx of “immigrants” fleeing overcrowded and unhealthy cities to be able to buy farms at minimal prices.
Regardless of that, I would be reluctant to give a conventional farmer access to any of my land. His armoury of insecticides, fungicides and selective herbicides would be most unwelcome.
You will find that todays farming habits are changing fast , farmers are being forced to use less and less poisons on their land due to more and more control via the EU regulations . Also younger farmers are changing their thoughts on poisoning due to the results that they have experienced with illnesses of their fathers.
Anonymous1st January 2021 at 10:27 am #541028Thank you Deboer. I am in no way criticising the agricultural laws, although whether the practise reflexes the laudable aims is a legitimate debate. But it pays to be aware of current rules and if, as you say, there can be no division of house and land offered for sale as one lot, I for one am reassured and Jim has little to worry about on this score.
I am not saying that you were criticising , it is just too easy to say ” plant trees”
I plant trees and hedges wherever and when ever I can .
We love trees , they are the basis of our life and that of our sheep . There is a ” new ” trend in the UK/EU for ” rewilding ” Our sheep have been grazing in woodland for more than 20 years , that is how it used to be before the government decided that sheep ( and cows) should be in fields . Most of our land was bought piecemeal after abandonment and with grazing is slowly returning to grazing beneath trees.
When we are checked by the PAC controllers , they deduct money for each tree and hedgerow that is not considered grazing land . This process is slowly changing , but as you know change takes a while .
I was also going to suggest planting tree’s as was previously mentioned. The advantages of turning that field into woodland are enormous and can be both beneficial to your goodself and to the planet.
More tree’s are needed to help with the global warming problems that we face and much needed habitats are being called for by our flora and fauna to keep many species from going extinct.
On a personal level you will get lots of exercise out there as well as the mental and spiritual well being from being part of that woodland and take it from someone who has lived in woodlands for most of his adult life it really is a great place to put aside the stress and the hardships of life by surrounding yourself by beauty.
You can diversify the choice of tree’s on a plot that size and do well economically off it by growing things that you can sell, eat and burn. Christmas tree’s go for a pretty penny and they could go on the timber side of the plot with some good pines,albeit you would want the christmas tree’s on the sunnier side so that they grow better. Oaks and chestnut tree’s are great for supplying fuel for your fire just from the dead wood off them and you can coppice the chestnut and make good and sturdy fence posts from them. Also you can built up a lovely pile of good organic mulch and compost from the leaves that work beautifully in a good veggie patch built into raised beds made from the coppiced branches.
An orchard section could also be beneficial to both you and nature and a mix of good flowering tree’s and shrubs to help keep the bee population in good order.
The list goes on and on and as a woodland owner I can not recommend this enough,especially if you have a nice little fire pit in the middle with a few home made comfy seats where you can enjoy a lovely drop of cru bourgoise vintage whilst listening to the owls and watching various animals do their thing.
Anyhow, just sharing my thoughts on what I would do if I had a field to use.
If by chance this is of interest to you I would happily supply you with a couple of hundred young chestnut saplings to help get you going and maybe throw in some holly bushes too as my woodland near brec’h is a little too busy at this moment in time and could use a bit of thinning out to help keep it good and healthy.
Whatever you choose, may you enjoy your land in good health and I wish you a very happy 2021.
Love and light
Jamie xx
You will find that todays farming habits are changing fast , farmers are being forced to use less and less poisons on their land due to more and more control via the EU regulations . Also younger farmers are changing their thoughts on poisoning due to the results that they have experienced with illnesses of their fathers.
My comments are based on personal observation, Deboer, and as much as I would like to see farming habits change, I see no evidence of this amongst the established “bigger” farmers around here (just on the Haute Vienne side of the border in fact, but you weren’t far out). What I do see is a general lack of respect for land, wildlife and non farming, or “foreign” neighbours, and quite possibly for EU regulation too, or at least certain elements of EU regulation. There is a very closed mindset that unfortunately doesn’t seem to have shifted within the younger generation.
I can’t comment on the bigger picture, ( you know more about that than I do) and I’m not suggesting that my observations are are necessarily representative of the bigger picture. I do know what I see locally however, which includes woodland being consumed by maize production, and my reluctance to allow a conventional farmer on any of my land is, for the time being, unmoved.Anonymous2nd January 2021 at 1:18 pm #541137I was also going to suggest planting tree’s as was previously mentioned. The advantages of turning that field into woodland are enormous and can be both beneficial to your goodself and to the planet.
Wonderful Jamie , can’t agree with you more but as I posted earlier ,you can’t just go planting trees on farming land . It doesn’t work , all land has a designation , before you can do that, it needs to be designated woodlands.
Also new woodlands take at least 15 /20 years to produce firewood and habitat. I can’t see Jim waiting 15 years so to be able to burn his own wood .
Anonymous2nd January 2021 at 1:27 pm #541139You will find that todays farming habits are changing fast , farmers are being forced to use less and less poisons on their land due to more and more control via the EU regulations . Also younger farmers are changing their thoughts on poisoning due to the results that they have experienced with illnesses of their fathers.
My comments are based on personal observation, Deboer, and as much as I would like to see farming habits change, I see no evidence of this amongst the established “bigger” farmers around here (just on the Haute Vienne side of the border in fact, but you weren’t far out). What I do see is a general lack of respect for land, wildlife and non farming, or “foreign” neighbours, and quite possibly for EU regulation too, or at least certain elements of EU regulation. There is a very closed mindset that unfortunately doesn’t seem to have shifted within the younger generation. I can’t comment on the bigger picture, ( you know more about that than I do) and I’m not suggesting that my observations are are necessarily representative of the bigger picture. I do know what I see locally however, which includes woodland being consumed by maize production, and my reluctance to allow a conventional farmer on any of my land is, for the time being, unmoved.
I agree Danny , but as the French say , “Paris wasn’t built in a day ”
” Respect ” had to be earned , it is not something that comes with the removal truck . You ( and I) have moved to one of the poorest and least developed parts of France . I have lived here 30 years and am only now getting a little respect for what I do . I have received all sorts of nastiness from the ignorant local people , but have never backed down . They don’t mess with me now ,but in the beginning it was pretty bad.
French farmers are directed in what they sow or raise by the PAC rules , you can see on what is producing the most subsidies by the crops that are most present in the fields .
Some parts of France are more ” alternative” than others but dans “la France profonde ” take care if you are not a hunter/ fisher type!
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