Rural crime more sophisticated than ever, report finds
© Tim Scrivener With every new set of rural crime figures comes the hope of a shift downwards in the incidence and value of criminality in the UK countryside, but this year’s data from NFU Mutual once again shows multiple upward trends.
While there are some glimmers of positivity – a 21.3% reduction in rural crime in Northern Ireland, among others – the overall picture is a worrying one for farmers.
From a 137% rise in incidences of theft of GPS units, to £3.2m worth of insurance claims for the loss of quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), a pattern is emerging of criminals that are more organised and sophisticated in their approach.
See also: How successful is the National Rural Crime Unit one year on?
NFU Mutual’s latest crime report shows how crime affected farmers in all four UK regions in 2023. The standout figure is the overall cost – claims totalled £52.8m compared to £50.6m in 2022.
Although inflation is a factor, there was no reduction in the overall number of claims, but what has reduced in number is agricultural vehicle thefts.
The insurer puts this down, in part, to the work of the new National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) – total claims fell by 9%, to an estimated £10.7m.
The most startling figures relate to GPS units – at £4.2m, theft of these systems accounted for nearly 8% of all claims from farmers in 2023.
In a disturbing development, intelligence has shown that thieves often revisit their victims’ farmyards weeks later to steal replacement units.
National crime unit aids recovery of stolen kit
One of the most promising developments in the fight against rural crime is the establishment of the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU), which helped to recover £3.1m worth of stolen vehicles and machinery last year.
The unit is staffed by police officers that have experience in detecting and preventing rural crime, and have investigative powers to track and intercept stolen agricultural machinery and equipment.
NFU Mutual, which is a major funder of the NRCU, shares claims data and insights with the unit to help identify risk areas and establish patterns of theft to assist in the recovery of stolen items.
In 2024, NFU Mutual committed funding to create a livestock theft officer’s post within the NRCU – the first post of its kind in the UK.
Livestock rustling
Farmers report that one of the most upsetting crimes is the theft of their livestock, which can lead to the loss of important breeding lines and worries about the welfare and treatment of stolen stock.
Last year saw a spate of alarming incidents, where farm animals were butchered in fields for their meat.
Across the UK, loss of livestock accounted for £2.7m of claims to NFU Mutual.
It is not only theft of livestock that is costing farmers money, but losses associated with dog attacks too.
Farm animals worth an estimated £2.4m were killed or severely injured by loose dogs in 2023, up nearly 30% compared to the previous year.
Hannah Binns, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, said all the signs point to rural crime becoming “more organised, sophisticated and determined in its nature”.
This, she added, was “incredibly alarming” for people who live and work in the countryside.
“Being from a family farm, I know first-hand that the impact of rural crime goes well beyond the practicalities of farming,” said Ms Binns.
“It’s the unnerving feeling that criminals have boldly staked out and targeted farmyards and fields, often a few feet from the family home.
“It’s also living in fear of repeat attacks, knowing that thieves are always looking for new ways to target rural communities.’’
© Shutterstock/Global Warming Images
Rural crime by regions
Essex is the county with the UK’s highest rural crime rate, with the value of claims rocketing by a staggering 82.1% in one year.
At £2.7m, it tops NFU Mutual’s table for the 10 worst-affected counties in 2023.
The sharp rise in claim values is likely to be linked to the crime rate associated with GPS equipment in this important arable region.
Lincolnshire is not far behind at £2.5m, a 13.3% year-on-year increase.
Third on the leaderboard is Shropshire, although claims in this county amounted to £2.3m, which is down 34.6% on the previous year.
In other UK nations, both Scotland and Wales saw upward trends – in Scotland, the value of claims rose by 34.9% to an estimated £1.8m, and in Wales by 6.7%, to £2.4m.
Northern Ireland was the only country that saw a decrease, down 21.3% to £2m.
NFU Mutual said that the numbers and cost of theft can fluctuate year-on-year within counties and regions.
These trends are often dictated by the high value of equipment and stock stolen.
“A few more, or less, larger claims can push numbers up or down,” said a spokesperson.
Case studies
Essex farmer loses £38k of GPS kit
One of the victims of the substantial rise in the theft of GPS equipment is Shaun Livermore, who lost £38,000 worth of kit.
Mr Livermore farms in the rural crime hotspot of Essex, where he grows wheat, barley, oilseed rape and lucerne on 223ha.
The theft of GPS equipment was not only a huge financial loss, but it had major repercussions for his field work – he was unable to get spraying work done as he struggled to get replacements. It took eight months for one specialist replacement kit to arrive.
Mr Livermore also lost stored field data from 2023, and that meant a lot of extra work was needed before he could use the replacement equipment within his field operations.
The arable grower described the theft as a “nightmare”, and the situation had left him shaken as the farm is quite isolated, and the thieves struck at night.
“The thieves knew exactly what they wanted to steal, and also how to remove it from the tractors – I didn’t even know that one of the systems they took could be removed from the tractor cab,” he said.
The GPS kits were stolen from tractors in a locked farm building just a few yards from the farmhouse where he and his family were sleeping.
Since the break-in, he has installed new security systems and an alarm system which alerts him by phone when someone enters the farmyard.
All GPS kits are now removed from the tractors, but this in itself has slowed down operations.
“I’m doing my best to keep thieves at bay, but it is very expensive and makes simple tasks take a lot longer,” said Mr Livermore.
Sheep farmer suffers major theft on poignant day
Neil Fell © Jim Varney
Sheep worth £18,000 were stolen from a County Durham farm on the day the farmer was attending his father’s funeral.
Thieves broke through a gate secured by a locked chain to steal 120 Welsh ewes and 200 lambs from Neil Fell’s field last August.
He believes the thieves knew he would be away from the farm on that morning as it was the day of his father’s funeral.
A neighbour saw the sheep being loaded into a large lorry, but did not suspect they were being stolen.
“She just thought I had asked someone to load them up,” he said. “She had no reason to be suspicious, why would she?”
Mr Fell, who won the Farmers Weekly Innovator of the Year award in 2019 for a sheep dipping invention, says the theft put a financial strain on his business.
He had to buy more lambs and breeding ewes to replace the sheep stolen from his 800-head flock. He calculates that his actual loss is closer to £35,000, as he would have reared the lambs to sell.
“This really hit my cash flow, and I have a wife and two children to support,” said Mr Fell. The theft was reported to police but inquiries have so far drawn a blank.
Since the incident, Mr Fell has improved security on his farm gates, installed a trail camera to catch images of anyone entering or leaving the field where the sheep were grazing, and urged his neighbour to call him if she sees anyone other than him or his farm staff moving sheep.