Leave the gate as you found it (or leave all gates as found) is an important rule of courtesy in rural areas throughout the world. If a gate is found open, it should be left open, and if it is closed, it should be left closed. It applies to visitors travelling onto or across farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

s, ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

es and stations

Station (Australian agriculture)

Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...

.

In low-rainfall areas, closing gates can cut livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

 off from water supplies. For example, most of the land used for grazing in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 has no natural water supplies, so drinking water for the stock must be supplied by the farmer or landowner, often by using a windmill

Windmill

A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...

 to pump groundwater

Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...

. Even visitors who know how a stock water system works may be unaware of breakdowns. During hot weather, cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 require large quantities of water to drink and can die in less than a day if they do not get it. Sheep need less water and can survive longer without it, but will die if cut off from water for several hot days.

In all agricultural areas, farmers need to keep groups of livestock separate, for reasons including breeding

Selective breeding

Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...

 for disease resistance and increased production, pest control, and controlling when ewes deliver their lambs. Unwanted mingling of flocks or herds can deprive a farmer of significant income.

The original versions of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Country Code

The Country Code

The Country Code, The Countryside Code and The Scottish Outdoor Access Code are sets of rules for visitors to rural, and especially agricultural, regions of the United Kingdom...

 advised visitors to always close gates. The revised Countryside Code now suggests that gates should be left as found.

External links

• Rules of the Trail Advice from the International Mountain Bicycling Association
• Camping on BLM Land A regional office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
  Bureau of Land Management
  The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
  
  asks visitors to "Tread Lightly"