As a one-time victim of undoubtedly negligent airfield maintenance, I would say this is a difficult area which could be argued both ways.
A licenced airfield is one thing, a private strip another. You should expect a licenced airfield to be kept in order and have evey right to sue if they negligently allowed the runway to be unfit without closing it (or a warning issued) ... but a
PRIVATE strip??? The law is crazy over liability issues. If the farm here is burgled and the theiving git seriously injures himself on a barbed wire fence, he can theoretically sue
If you are flying into a strip either invited or not, you should be prepared to take responsibilty. Most strip owners I know do take the trouble to keep their strips in order, but there are often times that the strip may be unuseable. In my case, the field is grazed by cattle and the strip electric fenced when not in use. It's also often waterlogged in the winter. I've rarely allowed anyone to fly in, but when I have it's been strict PPR and I've checked the strip immediately beforehand. If some fool flew in univited and stuffed up, then he/she should not bleat and threaten to sue, but in this age it wouldn't surprise me if they did
SS