| We are asking farmers to stay vigilant, review security measures and report any suspicious activity following a surge in the theft of high-value global positioning systems (GPS) this spring.
Gangs of organised criminals are travelling across the country to scope out farms using vehicles and drones before stealing high-value kit from tractors and sprayers.
And as harvest approaches, all farms are vulnerable to attacks, including those in remote locations.
In the latest high-profile theft, two men raided an arable farm in Thame, Oxfordshire, at midnight on Friday 26 May, stealing seven John Deere Greenstar tractor domes and seven StarFire screens, worth £70,000 altogether.
The balaclava-clad thieves smashed the windscreen of a Fendt Rogator sprayer to get access to one expensive GPS unit.
They were filmed on CCTV sprinting across the farmyard carrying the stolen goods.
The farmer believes the same gang flew a drone over his farm a fortnight before the raid.
Black market
Supt Andy Huddlestone, from Northumbria Police, national lead for agricultural machinery and vehicle thefts, said there was high demand on the black market in the UK and Europe for good agricultural machinery and GPS equipment.
“Stolen equipment has been heading to eastern Europe without a doubt,” he added. “You would expect the black market to respond in any country that is under sanctions and cannot buy machinery and equipment legally.”
We urge all farmers to report any suspicious activity on or near farms to police and rural WhatsApp groups, review their security and remove GPS equipment from machinery and store it away when not in use.
Reporting By phone
Emergency
Call 999 if:
· a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed
· someone is in immediate danger or harm
· property is in danger of being damaged
· a serious disruption to the public is likely
Non-emergency
Call 101 for non-emergency enquiries.
https://www.beds.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/
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