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Know How / Crime

News and advice on crime carried out on farms from sheep theft, to tractor, quad bike and other farm machinery theft, fly-tipping and hare coursing.  Get advice on farm security and rural crime prevention and hear from other farmers about how they keep their farm and property safe.

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CRIME

Herefordshire farmer loses £39,000 in machinery ad fraud

A Herefordshire farmer says he has lost £39,000 after he was caught out by a fraudulent machinery scam. An advert purporting to be Braydestone Farms, which carried multiple used machines…

POULTRY

Chicken supplier passing off housed birds as free range

Meat industry insiders have been warned to look closely at the traceability of any free-range chicken in their supply chains, with one unnamed company believed to be passing off housed…

CRIME

Police urge farmer vigilance after cattle found slaughtered

Livestock farmers must remain vigilant, police have warned, after cattle in Worcestershire were found slaughtered and beheaded in their fields.  The incident is one of a number to occur in…

CRIME

Bull semen tanks full of straws stolen in Northern Ireland

Two tanks containing straws of semen have been stolen from an outbuilding in a rural area of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. The burglary is thought to have taken place…

CRIME

Farmers Weekly campaign win as food fraud hotline launched

Farmers Weekly’s food safety and fraud campaign, Meat: Our Expectations, has won a key victory this week, as a new 0800 food fraud hotline has been launched. The free phone…

CRIME

Stark warning as hare coursing season gets under way

Farmers and landowners are being urged to be extra vigilant in looking out for hare coursers and poachers and to report any suspicious activity. Reports of hare coursing incidents increase…

NEWS

Rural policing team recover £1m of stolen machinery

A renewed focus on tracking devices, sharing of intelligence and partnership with farmers on the ground is helping a rural crime team crack farm machinery theft. Since January 2022, Leicestershire…

CRIME

Farmers left demoralised after vandals burn and slash bales

A farmer and his team have been left feeling demoralised after vandals caused more than £2,000 worth of damage to their farm in Surrey. Between 20 and 30 wrapped haylage…

Practical advice

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CRIME

Video: Former SAS soldier on a mission to combat rural crime

Ex SAS soldier Mick Hawkes spent four years breaking into farm complexes under cover in Northern Ireland to combat the IRA. The covert operations mainly involved working against terrorism, looking…

BUSINESS CLINIC

Business Clinic: How does livestock theft cover work?

Whether you have a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s Business Clinic experts can help. Rory Gibson, regional director, A-plan Rural Insurance, outlines what to consider on…

CRIME

Sheep worrying advice for lambing time

As lambing season gets under way, a string of recent sheep worrying incidents have left farmers asking what they can do to try to protect their flocks when they are…

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Common scams - how to protect your farm business against them

Cyber attacks are increasingly sophisticated, with fraudsters using new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in a farm’s online security. Scammers operate on the telephone too, masquerading as representatives from legitimate companies…

BUSINESS CLINIC

Business Clinic: How can I protect against cybercrime?

Whether you have a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s Business Clinic experts can help. Will Oakes, account executive, with A-Plan Rural Insurance, highlights the risk and…

CRIME

Warning after spate of harvest GPS thefts in West Country

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has issued advice on protecting high-tech farm equipment after a spate of thefts in the West Country this harvest. Thieves are increasingly targeting…

Case studies

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CRIME

Video: Farm bunds fend off rural criminals

It’s a simple but effective crime prevention measure that doesn’t cost farmers the earth. For centuries, earth bunds were used to protect areas and keep unwanted visitors off land near…

CRIME

Video: Farms turned into fortresses to battle rural crime

Farmers from Ambion Contractors Ltd, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire, in the shadows of the Bosworth battlefield, are engaged in their own battle – the constant fight against rural crime.…

CRIME

How technology is helping farmers curb sheep thefts

Sheep theft cost the UK £2.4m last year, according to latest figures from NFU Mutual, with livestock one of the biggest targets after machinery, tools and vehicle thefts. Now, a…

ARABLE

Video: Trench-digging farmer curbs poachers

A farmer has dug trenches around his fields in a novel way to ward off poachers and stop joyriders damaging his crops. Rob Gardner says digging trenches around fields bordering…

Farmer builds a 7ft high metal barricade to deter crime

A farmer has built a 7ft high, metal barricade around his farm to deter joyriders - and he hopes to finish the job using crowd control fencing from the London…

Insights

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CRIME

Long winter nights bring rural crime warning for farmers

Rural crime is an unrelenting nuisance for farmers – be it fly-tippers, thieves stalking farmyards to pilfer expensive kit or fuel, rustlers brazenly stealing livestock, or poachers wrecking fields and…

CRIME

Livestock rustling takes its toll on targeted farmers

Rustling is now such a threat to livestock farms that some victims are changing their farming practices to avoid further thefts. PC Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team,…

CRIME

Crime falls but farms still at risk from 'slicker' thieves

Rural crime rates have dropped to their lowest level in five years according to the latest figures from NFU Mutual, which estimates the cost of farm theft at just over…

CRIME

How the police want livestock worrying laws tightened

Tougher penalties for irresponsible pet owners who allow their out-of-control dogs to attack livestock are on target to be introduced in England and Wales later this year, say rural police.…

CRIME

Working farm dog thefts on the rise across the country

Working farm dogs have soared in value, with one 12-month old sheepdog recently fetching £28,000. But even the plainest pooches now command a hefty price tag, making them a soft…

CRIME

Rural crime: The mental and financial toll on farmers

In 2019, rural crime cost the UK £54.3m – a rise of nearly 9% from the previous year, with farmers bearing the brunt of the damage. But it is not…

CRIME

Why farmers want stronger action on hare coursing

Extreme weather and the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a challenging harvest for farmers across the country, who must now deal with the next threat – criminals taking advantage of bare…

CRIME

Rural crime costs reach highest level in 8 years

Rural crime rates have risen to their highest level for eight years according to the latest figures, which show that farm theft is costing the sector £54m annually. The cost…

CRIME

Northants sheep slaughter: The story behind the killing spree

It was a spate of attacks that terrorised farming communities in Northamptonshire. Under the cover of darkness, hundreds of sheep and lambs were slaughtered and butchered in fields. The sheep…

CRIME

Exclusive survey: What farmers say about rural crime

Farmers are experiencing a wide variety of crimes and they believe the government is not providing rural police forces with adequate resource to protect their livelihoods, according to a new…

CRIME

On patrol with the police in the fight against rural crime

It’s a drizzly mid-September morning as I travel to Buckinghamshire ahead of “Operation Agriculture”. The operation is a week-long crackdown on rural crime affecting farms and the countryside in the Aylesbury…

Video

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CRIME

Video: CCTV captures GPS kit being stolen

Thieves stole four tractor domes and a GPS screen from a Leicestershire arable and poultry farmer. Will Oliver said two men took £25,000 worth of kit in the overnight raid…

NEWS

Vegan activists arrested over £80,000 damage at Muller site

Vegan activists protesting against the dairy industry have been criticised by the police after a group broke into a milk processing site and punctured 200 truck tyres, causing an estimated…

CRIME

Video: Brazen thieves caught on CCTV stealing farm equipment

One farming family has described the financial and psychological impact of being hit by theft, after thieves stole a farm truck and thousands of pounds of tools. The equipment and…

CRIME

Video: Two arrests after rural crime raids on farms

Two men have been arrested and thousands of pounds worth of stolen agricultural and plant machinery has been recovered after police carried out dawn raids in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Officers…