NEWS - Farmers turn to monitoring
Farmers are turning to technology to secure high value machinery that is being stolen to order and shipped out of the country.
Following a series of thefts across Lincolnshire, police have urged farmers to be more vigilant, and many farms are now installing CCTV cameras with remote monitoring to overcome the problem.
In a recent spate of attacks in the south of the county, three tractors were stolen over a two week period in March. First to go was a JCB fast track worth about £90,000 with a fertilizer spreader worth about £15,000 attached. Next to go was a John Deere tractor, worth about £65,000, closely followed by another of the same make.
In May, two more John Deere tractors were stolen from an agricultural machinery supplier in Grantham, one of which was brand new. The burglary left a third tractor damaged in a water pond at the premises.
Head of Spalding Vehicle Crime Unit Dave Sargent said: "This is a real emerging trend. These types of crimes are a huge blow to farmers and the local rural economy as a whole and we need to work together to tackle the problem"
A spokesman for the NFU Mutual, the country's largest rural insurer, said that thefts of tractors and farm machinery had risen by 15pc last year costing a total of £22.9m in claims.
A spokesman for NFU Mutual, said: "There is a general belief among farmers that these tractors are being shipped to Eastern Europe or developing countries. We understand that they're being stripped down into components and parts. They use a low-loader lorry and get two or three tractors and take them elsewhere to strip them and then ship the parts. It is very organised, with probably teams of six or eight people working under cover of darkness."
Tom Smith, operations director of GB Monitoring's control centre said: "We've seen a surge in enquiries from existing and new rural customers, who have been looking to upgrade or install new systems because they are worried about theft, of both machinery and fuel."
"Remote monitoring is probably the cheapest and most effective solution to tackle high value equipment left unattended on remote sites, whether it's round the clock or just kicking in out of hours. Moving to remote monitoring is likely to help keep the lid on insurance premiums too," he added.
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