Rural crime soaring as organised gangs target farm machinery

Its 2023 Rural Crime Report, published on Tuesday (August 1), reveals that rural crime cost the UK an estimated £49.5 million in 2022, up from £40.5 million the previous year.

NFU Mutual says the rise comes against a background of soaring values and low supply of farm machinery worldwide, with criminal gangs establishing illicit global markets for farm machinery and technology equipment.

As a result, the UK cost of agricultural vehicle theft reported to NFU Mutual soared by 29 per cent to £11.7 million in 2022.

A survey of NFU Mutual agents based in rural communities across the UK found 70 per cent knew farmers who had been repeat victims of rural crime. And 86 per cent said thieves were cashing in on the limited supply of vehicles and rising prices.

The UK cost of GPS theft increased by 15 per cent to £1.8 million in 2022. However, the problem has sharply escalated in the first four months of 2023, with the cost of GPS theft doubling to more than £500,000 compared with the same period last year.

The equipment, typically costing more than £10,000, is used to guide tractors and combine harvesters. Without it, farmers face severe delays and disruption to harvesting and cultivating work, with long waits for replacement kit, says NFU Mutual.

Quad bikes and all-terrain-vehicles (ATVs) were also top targets for rural thieves. In 2022, quad and ATV theft reported to NFU Mutual cost £3 million nationally, a 34 per cent rise on the previous year.

“Continuing supply chain issues are sending prices of second-hand machines higher, making the vehicles an attractive target for thieves,” says NFU Mutual.

Livestock theft rose 8.7 per cent in 2022, totalling an estimated £2.7 million. Claims reported to NFU Mutual regularly involve more than 50 sheep being taken in a single raid, which the UK rural insurer says “has a devastating impact on breeding lines”.

“Amid the cost-of-living crisis, diesel and heating oil thefts plagued farms and rural homes leaving some families without heat at the coldest time of year,” said NFU Mutual. “Fuel theft doubled last year as both organised and opportunist thieves targeted the ‘liquid gold’ sitting in fuel tanks across the countryside.”

While Scotland saw a decrease, England, Northern Ireland and Wales saw a rise in the cost of rural crime as thieves returned to the countryside and “ramped up their activity after the pandemic years”, the report says.

Hannah Binns, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, said: “Highly-organised gangs are causing disruption to farming and widespread concern to people who live and work in the countryside.

“Rural theft is changing. It is not only opportunist thieves travelling a few miles, we are now seeing internationally organised criminal activity. These gangs target high-value farm machinery and GPS kits because they can be sold all over the world.

“Many items are stolen ‘to order’ by thieves using online technology to identify where farm machinery is stored and scope out the best way to steal it. They will also spend hours watching the movement of farming families to work out the best time to attack.

“Loss of vital machinery and GPS equipment causes huge disruption to farmers who are already stretched to the limit and replacing kit in the current economic situation can take months, adding additional stress.

“But, growing up on a family farm I know first-hand the impact of rural crime goes well beyond the practical business of farming.

“Those targeted by criminals may often second guess themselves in the aftermath of an incident as well as live in fear of repeat attacks on what is not only their workplace, but also their family home.

“That’s why we are working with farmers to help protect their livelihoods, sharing our advice and expertise as the main insurer of farmers and providing support to tackle rural crime.”

NFU Mutual provided more than £400,000 in support for rural crime fighting initiatives last year.

A dedicated agricultural vehicle theft unit, funded and set up by NFU Mutual in 2010, is now part of the new National Rural Crime Unit. This aims to strengthen work so that specialist police resources can be targeted where they are needed most to protect farmers and the wider rural community.

NFU Mutual is also supporting a new intergenerational project to train young farmers in crime prevention so they can advise other farmers and the wider rural community on practical ways to make farms secure against the threats of “determined criminals”.