Back from holiday and cows have been ruined my lawn!

Hi,

Came back from my wedding/holiday at the weekend and realised cows had been on the garden and have left hoof holes everywhere.

This has happened before. At the time the farmer called in and explained what had happened. He rolled the garden but it was never the same. I just let it go. There is only one farmer who moves cattle down our road so I'm presuming it is him. I have given him a couple of days to call in about in but he hasn't. In my opinion the lawn needs to be relaid.

I was told farmers need to have insurance to cover this kind of thing? Is this correct? If not could I claim on my house insurance to have it relaid? What are the implications if the farmer refuses to admit it was his cattle? I don't have a good or bad relationship with him but it's annoying me that he never called in or left a note. It may well be that I'm blaming him in the wrong but I doubt it. Hopefully he's not taking advantage of the fact I wasn't home.

Any thoughts on what I should do next would be appreciated.

NickyK

I certainly wouldn't be putting a claim in on my insurance because of excess or creating an unnecessary history on my policy for a matter like this. Why not go and have a word with him. Are walls or a fence totally out of the question?

The farmer moves the cattle from one area to another along the road my house is on. Sometimes he closes our gates and he also has rope he pulls across our drive.
I guess I will have to approach him and see where it goes.

Not sure on the law in this area. But anyone who lives in the countryside should have preferably a cattlegrid or gates. And the farmer should have closed your gates. But none of this is worth getting into a battle for. You might win the battle but lose the war. Time to install the cattle grid me thinks and ask the farmer to roll the grass again and don't accuse him of anything. And offer up the lovely lawn and re do it in a couple of years.

@cashier yes we left it open. Because we were going away to get married, all our family were on holiday with us. We thought it better not to do anything differently while away, so left it open. The farmer usually closes the gate or puts up rope. I have looked into it and the farmer is responsible for any damage his cattle cause while being transported. This is the second time in 6 years it has happened.

@Bronte I agree there's no point in getting into a row over it. I can't even prove it was him. The only problem is when he rolled the grass the last time it didn't make much difference. The holes really need to be filled in and then rolled. Filling in holes over 0.75 acres is pretty time consuming and I don't really see why I should be the one doing it or paying to have it done.

IMHO the countryside is the place of work for the farmer and should have precidence. Obviously the farmer in question made good damage done in the past but that fact that this could occur should have warned you it is good to get into the habit of closing your gate.
I'm not totally sure of the law in Ireland but I suspect it is similar to the UK where the farmer will not be liable if the cattle strayed from a road where they were legally entitled to be in the first place. If the farmer was totally negligent then he/she may be responsible but it will be difficult to prove. If the cattle broke in from a neighbouring field that would be trespass and the farmer would be liable.
I am sorry that your garden was damaged but equally I wish people living in the countryside would take adequate steps to secure their property by installing cattle grids or installing gates and using them. Think about the amount of new houses built in the country, it must be a total pain for the farmer to have to go around closing gates and tying rope.
BTW I'm not a farmer.

Then the farmer should get a tractor and trailer.

Turns out the farmer had a hip replacement and his family were looking after the farm the last while.

+1 on the cattle grid.
The joys of living in the country!

congratulations on the wedding!

farmer IS liable for damage caused. You could sue him. However, you have to live near him and if you had a chat with him, you might be able to get him to roll the lawn. Given it is so soft, it would probably flatten it quite a bit. You could then have him fill each deeper hole with either dung or compost and drop a few seeds on it.

Don't panic anyway. If the summer was dryer, the damage could be worse as the place could dry out before you rolled it.

burmo said:

Then the farmer should get a tractor and trailer.

Click to expand...

How knowledgeable of you. And that would really make sense if moving cattle just a few fields away.
The easiest and community spirited way is to help the agricultural community by protecting property adequately. As the OP said the situation occurred while the farmer was ill. I'm for the cattle grid, same as putting a lock on your door it's essential.