Rural crime cost the Welsh economy £2m in 2015, according to figures from NFU Mutual.
The rural insurer’s latest annual Rural Crime Report says the items most commonly targeted by thieves over the last 12 months were quad bikes, livestock and oil and diesel.
The overall costs of rural crime in Wales also stood at £2m in 2014, but the cost of quad bike theft has fallen by 37% from 2014.
UK-wide rural crime cost an estimated £42.5m in 2015 – in Northern Ireland the figure was £2.7m and in Scotland £1.7m.
'Increasingly sophisticated'
Richard Turner, NFU Mutual Agent in north Wales, said: “Rural thieves are becoming increasingly sophisticated and using computers rather than bolt cutters to steal from farms and country properties.
“Farmers and police have been working hard to adopt high-tech security measures to tackle the problems which now include: cloning tractor identities, advertising non-existent machinery in agricultural publications and stealing the GPS computer systems which are a key part of modern farming.”
Paul Roberts, who farms at Fach Gau Groes, in Conwy, had his Honda Foreman quad bike stolen from a shed on February 2.
Mr Roberts, 50, who also works as an auctioneer at Ruthin Farmers Auction, said two thieves cut their way through a metal door to get the bike.
He said CCTV footage of the theft showed they managed to get away with the bike in around four minutes.
Stolen to order
Mr Roberts said the six-year-old quad was in “immaculate” condition and, he believes, stolen to order as new tools also left in the shed were ignored by the thieves.
The theft made routine work like getting feed to ewes on the sheep and cattle farm more difficult for Mr Roberts.
He said: “That time of year you're highly dependent on the quad bike.
"You have to start to feed the ewes a month or so before they give birth to make sure they've got plenty of protein and vitamins. You have to make sure you feed them every day.
“So you go out on your quad bike with your feed otherwise they'll go down in condition and may abort etc. So when the bike was stolen, it made it very difficult.
"You had to walk with the bags on you - probably like they did 50 years ago.
"It did make it difficult - especially the winter at night because the fields were too wet for vehicles to go on, but a quad bike will go on the field without making too much of a mess."
Struggled to find replacement
Though he was insured against the theft, he said he struggled to find a replacement quad of the same age and in a similarly immaculate condition.
Meanwhile, there has been a shift in the items being targeted at rural homes as well – in the latest survey of NFU Mutual’s agency network, the theft of garden equipment was cited as the biggest growing trend, along with 4x4s.
Mr Turner said: “However, it is reassuring to see levels of rural crime are not rising in Wales, and reflects the huge efforts being made by anti-crime schemes throughout the countryside.”
The majority of NFU Mutual agents surveyed (65%) also reported that thieves in their area are becoming more sophisticated and cyber crime is also a growing concern.
The survey revealed social media is now the main resource for sharing information about crime and is a valuable tool – not only in prevention, but also for catching criminals and returning stolen goods.
“Our advice to people living and working in the countryside remains the same; evaluate your current security measures, making improvements where necessary, remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the local police, but also community watch schemes,” said Mr Turner.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/countryside-crime-2m-blight-welsh-11677435
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