05/19/2026
Update: This post has generated a lot of good discussion, including conversations with members of the paraglider community and paraglider associations. (paramotor is different then paragliding in aspect one has motor other doesn't and fly at different times)
We appreciate those who have reached out respectfully and understand the concerns farmers and ranchers have when people unexpectedly land in agricultural fields. Most of us realize that sometimes emergency or unplanned landings happen. The biggest thing is communication, respect for private property, and taking responsibility if damage occurs.
Today we had an unexpected visitors land in one of our fields — two paragliders. Fortunately, they landed in an area where we currently had no crops planted and that had not been sprayed.
We understand there are situations where paragliders may have little choice but to land in an agricultural field. At the same time, there are real concerns for farmers when this happens. Crops can be damaged, and those damages are generally the responsibility of the person landing, which is why many try to get out of a field quickly and avoid being caught. Though these days, with the number of game cameras and security cameras many farms have, people are usually seen anyway.
There is also the possibility of landing in a field that has recently been sprayed, which is a risk they take. Livestock can also be startled or run if someone lands near them.
Unlike our experience today, some of our friends with cattle have had much worse situations. In one case, a paraglider landed in a cattle field, cut a fence, and then left it open while leaving the property. That could have turned into a very bad situation if cattle had escaped onto roads or neighboring properties.
We would like to see more responsibility taken when situations like this happen. If damage is caused, the responsibility belongs to the person who landed there, per state law — not the farmer. Most farmers understand emergency situations happen, but simply leaving and hoping not to get caught is not the right approach.
On the positive side, they left the field without causing damage or leaving any fences down, and we appreciated that.
Side note: as they were descending, we were in another field putting up electric fence, and I may have yelled, “There’s electric fence there!” 😅
