Rural crime disrupts food production and puts additional pressure on families, say farmers
Lincolnshire farmers[1] have warned that rural crime puts additional pressure on the industry and disrupts food production.
Kate Armstrong, who farms at Bardney[2], says rural communities remain a target for criminals and this remains a problem for farmers.
She said: "The theft of vehicles, machinery and other items from our rural areas is a concern." Advertisement Advertisement
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Miss Armstrong, who is also the NFU Lincolnshire deputy county chair, added: "We have also just seen the long-awaited Crime and Policing Bill come in, following sustained campaigning by the NFU on the issue."
She continued: "This grants police new powers to enter premises without a warrant to recover electronically tracked stolen agricultural equipment so hopefully this will also help assist with recovery in the future.
"Rural crime continues to disrupt food production, put additional pressure on farming families and rural communities and it is good to see positive work from officers and stolen items returned to their rightful owners."
Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team police vehicles -Credit: Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team
Simon Gadd, a sixth-generation farmer in the Boston area, has described the thefts and other rural crime as "a very exhausting problem to have." Advertisement
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He said: "We have been targeted three or four times last year alone, where we have had the motion sensors and cameras going off in the yard at two or three in the morning.
"You want to go to work the next day, and all of a sudden you can't work, you can't get a replacement tractor as the dealers don't have them, so you have to hire other people in and it's very expensive.
"It's a very exhausting problem to have."
Mr Gadd, who is also an NFU council representative, said that a lot of jobs are "time sensitive" and so if farmers have had their equipment stolen and it takes weeks for a replacement to arrive, it can have a big impact on operations or halt them altogether.
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There have been a number of recent incidents involving thieves targeting rural communities.
An update from the Lincolnshire Police[3] Rural Crime Action Team said a Gator utility vehicle was recovered from land off the A47 near Wisbech by Lincolnshire Police just 45 minutes after it had been reported stolen on Thursday, May 7.
On Friday, May 8, officers also recovered an Ifor Williams horse trailer taken from land at Fulbeck, near Leadenham.
A stolen caravan was also recovered earlier this month after the force received reports of it being towed by a Toyota Landcruiser down the wrong side of the A46 towards Newark. Advertisement Advertisement
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This had not been reported stolen at the time of its recovery but officers said the "distraught owners" were found once they had reported it missing.
A Gator utility vehicle was recovered 45 minutes after it was stolen -Credit:Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team
"Rural crime continues to disrupt food production, put additional pressure on farming families and rural communities and it is good to see positive work from officers and stolen items returned to their rightful owners."
Following the three recent incidents, Lincolnshire Police are asking owners to consider using trackers, CCTV and robust locks to help deter criminals.
Johanna Musson, NFU county adviser, said: "This shows the importance of collaborative work and feeding in intelligence to the police to help them tackle crime in our communities. Advertisement
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"The NFU continues to champion for stronger protections for our members and rural communities through a range of lobbying work on machinery and farm theft to hare coursing, fly-tipping, livestock worrying and other crimes.
"We continue to push for a joined-up approach to protect those who live and work in the countryside - this was a good result for officers and we hope it can continue."