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Know How / Crime

News and advice on crime carried out on farms from sheep theft, to tractor, quad bike and other farm machinery theft, fly-tipping and hare coursing.  Get advice on farm security and rural crime prevention and hear from other farmers about how they keep their farm and property safe.

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CRIME

Rural crime fund launches across South Yorkshire

A £443,000 rural crime fund has launched across South Yorkshire to support farmers and residents. It will offer grants, policing operations and prevention measures to protect communities and businesses. The…

FLY-TIPPING

Farmers hit as fly-tipping reaches record levels

Farmers across England are facing rising clean-up costs and hazardous waste after 1.26m fly-tipping incidents were recorded in 2024-25, prompting new government advice on vehicle seizures. The new guidance issued…

CRIME

Rural tool theft warning issued to farmers

Farmers across the UK are being urged to stay vigilant after research by NFU Mutual showed that tool theft continues to affect tradespeople, farmers and rural communities nationwide. Criminals targeting…

CRIME

Fly-tipped farmer fundraiser tops £54,000

A fundraiser for a Hertfordshire farmer targeted by fly-tippers has surpassed £54,000, as the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs unveils new waste crime enforcement technology. The online appeal,…

NEWS

Farmland waste dumper ordered to pay £1.4m

A serial waste criminal has been ordered to pay more than £1.4m after illegally dumping over 4,275t of waste at farms and rural sites across England. Varun Datta, 36, of…

FLY-TIPPING

Crowdfunder raises thousands for farmer hit by fly-tippers

A crowdfunding campaign has raised almost £55,000 to support an elderly farmer in Hertfordshire who is facing a £40,000 clean-up bill after fly-tippers dumped about 200t of waste on his…

CRIME

Dog attacks on livestock cost farmers £1.95m in 2025

Farm animals worth £1.95m were killed or injured in dog attacks across the UK in 2025, a 10% annual rise, new figures show. Data released by NFU Mutual estimates the…

CRIME

Five dogs seized in hare coursing crackdown

Five dogs have been seized after police responded to reports of hare coursing in south Cambridgeshire on 11 February, tracking a suspect vehicle before stopping it in Bourn. Neighbourhood officers…

Practical advice

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

7 ways to beef up your farm’s cybersecurity

Farming is a critical part of national infrastructure, yet many farmers still underestimate the risk that cybercrime poses to their businesses. With farms becoming increasingly reliant on digital technology, from…

FARM MAINTENANCE

What to look for when buying a farmyard CCTV system

As the nights grow longer, darker and danker, so does the window of opportunity for unscrupulous ne’er-do-wells to pilfer from farmyards. Sadly, there’s no single answer to keeping undesirables out,…

CRIME

Video: Former SAS soldier on a mission to combat rural crime

Ex SAS soldier Mick Hawkes spent four years breaking into farm complexes under cover in Northern Ireland to combat the IRA. The covert operations mainly involved working against terrorism, looking…

BUSINESS CLINIC

Business Clinic: How does livestock theft cover work?

Whether you have a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s Business Clinic experts can help. Rory Gibson, regional director, A-plan Rural Insurance, outlines what to consider on…

CRIME

Sheep worrying advice for lambing time

As lambing season gets under way, a string of recent sheep worrying incidents have left farmers asking what they can do to try to protect their flocks when they are…

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Common scams - how to protect your farm business against them

Cyber attacks are increasingly sophisticated, with fraudsters using new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in a farm’s online security. Scammers operate on the telephone too, masquerading as representatives from legitimate companies…

Case studies

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CRIME

Video: Farm bunds fend off rural criminals

It’s a simple but effective crime prevention measure that doesn’t cost farmers the earth. For centuries, earth bunds were used to protect areas and keep unwanted visitors off land near…

CRIME

Video: Farms turned into fortresses to battle rural crime

Farmers from Ambion Contractors Ltd, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire, in the shadows of the Bosworth battlefield, are engaged in their own battle – the constant fight against rural crime.…

CRIME

How technology is helping farmers curb sheep thefts

Sheep theft cost the UK £2.4m last year, according to latest figures from NFU Mutual, with livestock one of the biggest targets after machinery, tools and vehicle thefts. Now, a…

ARABLE

Video: Trench-digging farmer curbs poachers

A farmer has dug trenches around his fields in a novel way to ward off poachers and stop joyriders damaging his crops. Rob Gardner says digging trenches around fields bordering…

Farmer builds a 7ft high metal barricade to deter crime

A farmer has built a 7ft high, metal barricade around his farm to deter joyriders - and he hopes to finish the job using crowd control fencing from the London…

Insights

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CRIME

Co-ordinated action sees drop in rural crime cost

While the scourge of rural crime still cost the industry an estimated £44.1m in 2024, across the UK that still represents a welcome fall of 17% from the previous year’s…

CRIME

Trespassers: What farmers can do to protect themselves

From errant walkers and fly-camping to longer term encroachment by travellers, the arrival of unwanted visitors can cause significant disruption to farming operations, and pose legal and financial challenges for…

CRIME

Analysis: How to protect yourself from fake seeds and pesticides

Digital analysts, on-ground track-and-trace teams and forensic testing might sound like something from a TV crime show, but some of the world’s biggest agchem manufacturers are having to turn detective…

CRIME

Rural crime more sophisticated than ever, report finds

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…

CRIME

Video: Dorset farmers tackle deadly dog attacks

Livestock worrying poses a significant ongoing threat to farmers across the UK, but latest figures show the South West is the worst-affected region. Farm animals worth about £2.4m were severely…

CRIME

How successful is the National Rural Crime Unit one year on?

Headed up by Northumbria police superintendent Andy Huddleston, the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) was formed, and continues to operate, against a backdrop of geopolitical unrest, a situation which has…

CRIME

Farmers Weekly's meat scandal exposé: One year on

This time last year, Farmers Weekly published an exclusive investigation into a mass food fraud and safety scandal which engulfed the sector. But has any progress been made on tackling…

CRIME

Long winter nights bring rural crime warning for farmers

Rural crime is an unrelenting nuisance for farmers – be it fly-tippers, thieves stalking farmyards to pilfer expensive kit or fuel, rustlers brazenly stealing livestock, or poachers wrecking fields and…

CRIME

Livestock rustling takes its toll on targeted farmers

Rustling is now such a threat to livestock farms that some victims are changing their farming practices to avoid further thefts. PC Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team,…

CRIME

Crime falls but farms still at risk from 'slicker' thieves

Rural crime rates have dropped to their lowest level in five years according to the latest figures from NFU Mutual, which estimates the cost of farm theft at just over…

CRIME

How the police want livestock worrying laws tightened

Tougher penalties for irresponsible pet owners who allow their out-of-control dogs to attack livestock are on target to be introduced in England and Wales later this year, say rural police.…

Video

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NEWS

10 hare coursers evade police in dramatic chase

A group of 10 men suspected of hare coursing evaded Cambridgeshire police in a dramatic car chase on Saturday (11 October). The men were travelling in a four-by-four vehicle, with…

CRIME

Video: CCTV captures GPS kit being stolen

Thieves stole four tractor domes and a GPS screen from a Leicestershire arable and poultry farmer. Will Oliver said two men took £25,000 worth of kit in the overnight raid…

NEWS

Vegan activists arrested over £80,000 damage at Muller site

Vegan activists protesting against the dairy industry have been criticised by the police after a group broke into a milk processing site and punctured 200 truck tyres, causing an estimated…

CRIME

Video: Brazen thieves caught on CCTV stealing farm equipment

One farming family has described the financial and psychological impact of being hit by theft, after thieves stole a farm truck and thousands of pounds of tools. The equipment and…