Rural crime cost falls in Northern Ireland but organised crime sees total UK cost exceed £50m, NFU Mutual warns

Published on Thursday 1 August, NFU Mutual’s new report reveals that rural crime cost the UK an estimated £52.8m in 2023, up from £50.6m the previous year, as thieves became more organised and determined.

Although the cost of rural crime fell in Northern Ireland, the UK’s leading rural insurer has warned that the increasing organisation and sophistication of criminals has seen thieves target high value equipment in the countryside.

A Co. Antrim farmer was in the middle of silage-making when thieves struck and took GPS equipment from four of his tractors.

The high-tech equipment, typically costing over £10,000 a unit, is used to guide tractors and combine harvesters to improve accuracy. Without it, farmers and agricultural contractors can face severe delays and disruption to harvesting and cultivating work.

One of the largest farms in the area, Pat’s farm is a mixed enterprise with a milking herd of 500 cows, 500 acres of arable crops and a 1,000 head beef herd.

The theft in July 2023 led to a £40,000 bill, farm work delayed by over a week, and months’ delay sourcing new equipment.

Worse still was the knowledge that thieves had been watching the farm to check the family’s movements and spot an opportunity to steal the vital equipment.

“It really hit us hard to know that we’d been watched as we went around the farm and the farm house,” said Pat McKavanagh.

“Farming is a very personal way of life and it affected us deeply.

“They knew exactly what kit we had and how to remove it. There’s no way they turned up on the off-chance, they had clearly checked out the farm and were waiting for an opportunity.

“It caused a huge amount of disruption. We were in the middle of silage-making and also had a lot of spraying work to do.

“Our local machinery dealer lent us kit from tractors they had on sale which helped – but we were left working without stored field data and it was six weeks before we could get replacement GPS fitted.

“It’s obvious which of our tractors have GPS fitted – the dome is visible on the cab roof. We need more manufacturers to hide domes in the cab structure and fit a device which means the kit can be permanently disabled remotely. That would stop this crime wave overnight.”

After finishing work late in the evening, tractors were parked up near the silage clamp rather than locked away as usual.

Early the next morning Pat’s brother discovered GPS equipment was missing from one of the tractors. Within a few minutes they found that roof-mounted domes, display screens, receivers and nav controllers had been stolen from four tractors.

Police couldn’t find usable fingerprints – but did identify clear footprints where the thieves had stood on a tractor mudguard to remove the dome from a cab roof.

A suspect van was traced to a ferry leaving Northern Ireland, and police told Pat they expected his GPS kit would be moved to Europe.

One tractor, parked elsewhere in the farmyard wasn’t spotted by the thieves and was untouched.

Since the raid, Pat has upgraded security on the farm including hi-definition CCTV.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses satellite guidance to precisely guide tractors and combines, and control such operations as cultivating land, planting crops and spraying right through to harvesting.

Quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) were also top targets for rural thieves, with thefts up nine per cent to an estimated £3.2m in claim costs reported to NFU Mutual last year.

The very nature of farmland makes these vehicles essential to farmers’ ability to get around their fields and effectively complete work, making a theft highly disruptive, especially during peak seasons.

However, in a positive sign of the co-ordinated action against thieves, the total claims cost for agricultural vehicles thefts reported to NFU Mutual fell nine per cent to an estimated £10.7m in 2023.

Livestock theft remained high in 2023, at an estimated cost of £2.7m across the UK. Last year saw a spate of alarming incidents where farm animals were butchered in fields, an upsetting sight for those discovering the gruesome remains that the criminals had left behind.

Farm animals worth an estimated £2.4m were severely injured or killed in dog attacks across the UK in 2023, up nearly 30 per cent compared to the previous year.

Sharp rises in inflation in 2023 made farming equipment an attractive target for organised gangs and meant each theft cost the rural community more than in previous years. But a co-ordinated response against crime saw a reduction in the number of agricultural vehicle claims reported to NFU Mutual.

To help farmers and rural communities protect their livelihoods from the threat posed by organised crime, NFU Mutual has provided over £1m since 2021 in support for initiatives to tackle rural crime.

In 2023, NFU Mutual became a major funder of the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU). Formally established last April, the unit is staffed by police officers with experience in detecting and preventing rural crime, with investigative powers to track and intercept stolen machinery and equipment.

Working hand-in-hand with the NRCU, NFU Mutual operates a dedicated team which shares claims data and insight, helps to identify areas at risk and finds theft patterns to assist recoveries. This kind of collaboration saw the National Construction and Agri Theft Team, which sits under the NRCU, seize £3.1m worth of stolen vehicles and machinery in 2023.

And in 2024, NFU Mutual has funded the UK’s first livestock theft officer at the NRCU to tackle this upsetting crime.

Martin Malone, NFU Mutual Regional Manager for Northern Ireland, said: “Although we’ve seen a fall in the cost of rural crime in Northern Ireland, all the indications suggest rural crime is becoming more organised, sophisticated and determined in its nature, which is incredibly alarming for people who live and work in the countryside.

“Livestock theft in particular has become a highly organised crime, often involving 50 or more sheep being stolen in one raid. This crime can have a devasting effect on farming businesses, as well as causes huge worry to farmers about the welfare of their stolen animals.

“As the UK’s leading rural insurer, we know the impact of rural crime goes well beyond the practicalities of farming. 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.

“That is why it’s so important for insurers, farmers, manufacturers, police and politicians to continue to work together to provide a united response to the challenge presented by both organised criminals and opportunistic thieves.

“We will also continue to support farmers directly to help protect their livelihoods, offer expertise as the main insurer of farmers and provide advice to tackle rural crime.”

Figures fluctuated across the UK, with cost rises in Scotland (up 34.9 per cent to an estimated £1.8m) and Wales (up 6.7 per cent to an estimated £2.4m) while Northern Ireland saw a decrease.

A survey of NFU Mutual Agents, who are often embedded in the local communities they serve, found 91 per cent believed thieves were more organised, with 82 per cent percent saying they knew farmers who had been impacted by rural crime in their area.

Shockingly, 86 per cent of NFU Mutual Agents said rural crime was negatively impacting farmers’ mental wellbeing and 77 per cent knew farmers who had been repeat victims.

For more information on rural crime trends and advice on how to beat rural crime in your area download NFU Mutual’s Rural Crime Report 2024 at www.nfumutual.co.uk/farming/rural-crime/