Is it OK to try before you buy at a pick-your-own farm?

Have you ever tried a strawberry on your way around a pick-your-own farm?

It can be tempting to try before you buy - and some would argue that it's all part of the experience.

But one strawberry farm made headlines this week when it issued a social media plea for visitors to stop eating the fruit in the field.

Vale Pick Your Own, in Bonvilston, Vale of Glamorgan, said it was equivalent to shoplifting.

“We’ve noticed a concerning trend on social media of people eating our strawberries before paying,” they said. “Unfortunately, this is significantly impacting our small family business, especially during our busier time.”

The farm said if customers were caught, they could be asked to leave.

“We’ve planted enough strawberries to ensure we can stay open six days a week, but unfortunately we are finding that our fruit is being eaten in the fields, we are running out and then we are having to close.”

It may seem like an innocent act, but for pick-your-own businesses, it could be causing more harm than people realise.

“It is always a problem – particularly strawberries and raspberries,” said Bryan Clatworthy from Berry Hill Farm, Newport.

Mr Clatworthy has not offered pick-your-own fruit at his farm for about six years, but he said he used to experience his fair share of greedy customers.

“They’re easy to eat – same with plums," Mr Clatworthy said.

He said some people were "greedy", adding: "They end up going out and they’ll have a belly full of fruit and end up not paying a penny.”

Mr Clatworthy said it was something farmers had come to expect.

“We factored it into the price,” he explained.

“I said to a little boy once, ‘Oh, you’ve eaten plenty of strawberries’ and he said ‘Not as many as my dad!’”

Over the border in Cheshire, Barabara Hughes from Magical Malpas PYO Farm said the bad weather this year has caused a shortfall in produce.

“We lost all our strawberry plants this year because of the weather,” she explained.

It means they have been unable to offer pick-your-own strawberries this year.

Even so, she’s come to expect that people will help themselves to a strawberry or two.

“I think it’s part of the deal. You’ve just got to put up with it. There’s nothing much you can do,” she said.

“You could have huge evidence that would go in a court of law – their t-shirts would be bright red and their whole face, but you just have to say ‘Oooh, you’ve been eating them, I bet your tummy’s full!’

"But it’s something you can’t stop to be honest.”

The issue has caused a stir on social media.

"Thirty years ago that was a part of the experience, going to the fields picking your own with a bag of sugar and eating along the way," said one user on Facebook.

“It's great to taste before you buy," said another. "Let the kids and adults enjoy rather than wasting them."

But some were more sympathetic.

One Facebook user asked: “Would you do it in the supermarket?"