Shocking crime results

RURAL crime is something that affects farmers across the country on a daily basis. As an industry we are regularly targeted by criminals on the lookout for quad bikes, sheep and farm machinery. What makes recent thefts worse is the fact they have taken place during the pandemic, when the country was in lockdown, or emerging slowly from it, and a time when people should not have been leaving their homes or local areas, let alone be on other people’s farms, touching their property, and stealing their belongings.

It was very fitting that the results of NFU Cymru’s rural crime survey were released and revealed that around one in five Welsh farmers had been a victim of crime during 2020. The survey, which polled nearly 2,000 farmers across Wales and England, showed that over half the cases of rural crime within Wales were theft, with 52% being targeted, 29% involved trespass and a further 16% were fly-tipping.

It was extremely shocking to see in these results that 10% of farmers who completed the survey had been targeted on more than one occasion in the past year, and that 24% said that the financial loss as a result was in excess of £1,000.

I was, however, pleased to see that there has been an increase in preventative measures over the past five years to deter criminals. There have been upgrades to building security, equipment has been removed from vehicles overnight, and many farmers have gone even further and installed CCTV on their farms, with many also saying they now block field entrances.

While it is disappointing that farmers have to take these measures to protect their homes and livelihoods, I am pleased that so many are doing what they can to deter criminals, and secure their machinery, tools and stock.

It is therefore vitally important that as an industry we report rural crimes to the police. No matter how small or insignificant something may seem, please report any incidents and suspicious activity. We need to ensure that our police force has a true and accurate picture of the crime in the area.

As a union, NFU Cymru welcomed the announcement by the Welsh Government that they will appoint an all-wales Rural and Wildlife Crime Co-ordinator to tackle rural crime in Wales.

It is vital that the appointee to this role is able to work effectively with Wales’s newly-elected police and crime commissioners.