Farms in country lanes and surrounded by fields are being targeted by criminals. According to NFU Mutual, losses to British farmers from theft hit a seven-year high of £50 million in 2018. There was a 26% rise in claims for stolen farm vehicles such as tractors and quad bikes last year with all claims adding up to £7.4 million. Animal thefts claims rose up to 3.7% to £2.5 million in 2018.
Tim Price, from the NFU Mutual, said: “Farmers and country people are suffering from high levels of anxiety due to repeated thefts by gangs who take advantage of farms’ isolated locations to steal machinery, raid tool stores and even butcher sheep in the fields.
“In a single generation, country people have seen rural crime change from the opportunist theft of a single lamb, to brazen heists of tractors worth over £100,000 and rustlers stealing hundreds of sheep,” Mr Price added.
The biggest increase in rural crime in Scotland was up by 62% and north-east had the second highest regional rise, at 25%.
Across the country agricultural vehicles have been stole for the use of a robbery in shops etc. Animals are stolen from fields for meat or lambing. Dogs are also stolen to round up sheep in the crimes.
Farmers are starting to use a innovative measure to protect their fields and farms. These include intruder alerts which send messages to mobile phones when it is triggered. There is also alarms for vehicles which can set an alarm of if the vehicle is taken out of the farm’s boundary.
