Income from Land Access.

[JCMaloney]

Some hobbies eg: shooting, metal detecting, quad biking,offroading etc need access to land.

Now I have some experience of organising MD digs & rallies....mostly as fundraisers for charities, so I`ll stick with what I know but feel free to pitch in any relevant experience etc!

However in the "Diversification" mindset what do you guys perceive as a reasonable income from the following:

1: Weekend event. (generally arrive Friday depart Sunday evening tents/caravans)
2: One day dig. (9.00am till 4pm)
3. Long term access.( Marked map,agreed terms of access with notification eg: text or phonecall)

Rough Guide:
As far as area goes I work on 1 acre per person per day.
Always relative to crops & stock movement and any stewardship schemes etc.
All attendees have £10 million public liability insurance.
Land is reinstated as found.
Rubbish removed.
Stewards, Marshalls & First Aider provided.
Signed finds agreement arranged with landowner (generally 50/50 on items over an agreed value £XXX or Treasure items).
All historical finds (over 300 years old generally) are recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Feel free to join in or shoot me down in flames!!

 

[Goweresque]

I've had a MD club over my place a couple of times. One chap organised the events, sent out emails to all interested parties, paid a flat fee to me, charged all that turned up £5-10/head for the day. But they cover a lot more ground than an acre each. They don't just sit on one bit and cover it thoroughly, they wander all over til they find something then concentrate on that field/area. Some fields can be virtually empty, others stuffed with items, quite odd really as they can be side by side too. They soon pick up on what areas are 'hot'. The other thing is that its only really possible at certain times of year - when the grass has been cut/grazed low, or the crops have been removed and not yet replanted. And they don't like wandering over ploughed land either it seems, too rough on the ankles I suppose. They found a few interesting bits - some Roman coins and a tunic clasp, some mediaeval coins and one lucky chap found a Victorian gold half sovereign.

I don't think there's anything other than pin money to be made from providing access for such activities, unless you have plenty of hidden treasure, in which case you better get out there with a detector of your own!

 

[Thick Farmer]

Sounds like a pain in the arse unless you happen to like people walking all over your farm.

 

[lim x]

Sounds like a pain in the arse unless you happen to like people walking all over your farm.

Doesn't sound much of an earner when you have folk traipsing all over the land, so wouldn't bother. And if you see my thread of 'where theres a blame' that is the major reason why.

 

[JCMaloney]

Thanks for the input folks. Seems other organisers are less stringent than me! I don't like the idea of folk wandering all over, hence I give them a marked map at kick off.
Personal experience tells me the biggest pain is parking....people don`t car share and field access is often down narrow lanes & tracks that normally see one man & the proverbial!

@ lim x all attendees have public liability insurance for that very reason and they get notified on the ticket that XXX Farms Ltd are exempt from liability, thats accepted by attending.

What got me thinking was there have been a good few weekend rallies ...averaging £50 a ticket and attendances of 300+. Take out the cost of a hired marquee, few Portaloos & a skip and there would be a fair bit left out of £15,000.