Is rural crime and agricultural crime on the rise?
Is rural crime and agricultural crime on the rise?
The simple answer to this is yes, rural crime is on the rise. But what’s interesting is the types of theft thats on the increase. Its not livestock theft, its the theft of agricultural vehicles. Tractor thefts have doubled in the East of England (Source 1). The NFU have reported a rise of 18% (Source 2). These are not insignificant figures.
But its not just tractors and the big boy stuff you see on Clarkson’s farm. Quad bikes are seeing a massive increase, lets be honest its unlikely that these quad bikes will be used on another farm. Its going to be some scumbag on a estate in the next nearest big town to you causing an anti social behaviour issue. The same source states a sadder fact is a lot of crimes go unreported. So not only will the true figures not be known there’s no way a thieves going to get caught if nobody is reporting it thus completing the vicious cycle (Source 3)
Clarksons farm has done great things for farming and highlighting the problems that farmers face. I mean I could not be more of a city boy if I tried, I’m scared witless of anything bigger than a cocker spaniel. But not much is said about the increase of thefts. In Season 6 Clarkson reported he made a lost. Lets be honest he’s got resources that are not available to the average farmer.
Moving Intelligence wireless trackers offer a cheap and easy way to protect your quad bike, well any machinery or farm attachment really. Getting an alert if it moves seems like a quick way to raise an alarm. The average size of a UK farm is 56.6 Hectares. Its possible that it can take you a good 15 minutes to get to the site you left your stuff. Being able to track it down is a winner.
Its not just the equipment though. Lets be honest due to the nature of the environmentthat is rural Britain you won’t go far on a farm without seeing a 4x4 or a Range Rover. These are targets for the garden mill thieves. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think of a gang making a trip to the countryside. Not even the smell of manure will put them off.
Simple measures are the easiest solutions, its worth speaking to a security company, obviously I’ going to recommend Autonox but you need to do something.
