The problem from which the sheep were suffering when they broke out into the green field, is called "pasture bloat". They got into a field with immature legumes, such as alfalfa or clover. The food causes excessive gas production which inflates the sheeps' stomachs (rumen) and compresses their lungs so they can't breathe. Using a trocar to puncture the rumen and release the gas, as Gabriel did, is a lot messier than this film shows.
As of 2018, the Friar Waddon House in Weymouth, used for the exteriors of Boldwood's house, is a bed-and-breakfast establishment. Bloxworth House in Dorset, used for Bathsheba's house, was built in 1608 and has remained in private hands ever since. At the time of the movie, it had fallen into a state of disrepair, but has since been restored; as of 2018 it is valued at four million pounds sterling.
George Cukor seriously considered adapting the novel for the screen during the 1940s with Vivien Leigh or Olivia de Havilland.
Future Fairport Convention band member Dave Swarbrick can be seen playing a fiddle during the barn-dance scene.
After the storm, Mr. Boldwood says he doesn't think he'll "save a tenth of my corn this year." In British English "corn" refers to the grain of any cereal crop (wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.) unlike in the U.S. where "corn" refers only to maize.
John Schlesinger: He is briefly seen as an extra in the harvest celebration at about the midway point, before the Intermission.