[Tagging] Should pastures be tagged landuse=meadow or landuse=farmland?

[David Marchal]

stevea <steveaOSM at softworkers.com> schrieb am Donnerstag, 16. Dezember 2021 um 08:30:

> On Dec 15, 2021, at 11:22 PM, David Marchal penegal.fr at protonmail.com wrote:
>
> > Here is landuse=grassland mainly used for lands which are covered with grass with no agricultural use, but which are still maintained in their grassy state: interchange areas, city parks… When the grassland is used for pasture or hay, landuse=meadow is used. When a non-grass crop is present, landuse=farmland is used.
>
> If that is how it is done, then that is how it is done (I'm guessing France / Europe). If by "pasture," you mean "cattle graze here," then we agree there, too.

Yep, I meant that.

>
> > I don't pretend this is the best way to tag, but here is it done this way, and I'm accustomed to it. Besides, many meadows are routinely dedicated to both pasture and hay: there is at first a hay cut, around June, and then, cattle is placed on the same land lot for the summer and autumn for pasture. Many meadows have both uses, and bypassers can often not say that a grassland is used only for hay, only for pasture or both. Our usage of landuse=meadow allows to tag what we know for sure (grassy land used for agriculture), without bothering with details (hay or pasture?) we can't tell for sure.
>
> I understand. Similar "crop rotation" (animals graze part of the year, crops may be planted other times of the year...) happens all over the world. So, calling "farmland" a sort of "other thing" for a moment, I'd say landuse=meadow (active grazing, maybe possible grazing at another time of the year but not right now), is closer to that (farmland) but isn't quite farmland. However, while landuse=grassland is closer to meadow than it is to farmland (from which grassland is far away), I believe it is never the case (or almost never) that grassland is EVER used as farmland; that simply doesn't happen. Grassland more like "grassy area that is distinctly NOT agricultural" (even for grazing) and meadow is "agricultural for 'now,' as cattle are or may be grazing it, but could 'rotate out and become fallow.' Grassland doesn't do that, it isn't agricultural, it is simply "grassy."

Please note that this distinction between landuse=farmland for non-grass crops and landuse=meadow for hay and pasture is also based on the fact that agricultural grasslands and croplands are different lands. In my area (but I assume it is more or less the case in Europe), agricultural meadows are lands which don't allow crops because they are inarable: too wet, too rocky, too steep, too cold… They are used for pasture and may because they are not arable. Typically, agricultural lands which are arable are used for non-grass crops, and inarable agricultural lands are keeped grassy for pasture and hay; the lands rarely change between these two states.

> > As for the crops, I only gave crops that instantly came in my mind: I would certainly also use landuse=farmland for list of crops (berries, artichokes, cotton, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, squash), but I would currently not use it for pasture.
>
> We agree!

Nice to see agreement; way more pleasant than disagreement! ;-)