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Some 150 vehicles were stolen from Irish farms in 2018, with quad bikes and tractors being the frequently targeted from criminals.
The most recent figures available show that one in six quads and one in three tractors were stolen with the key inside.
Gardaí have warned farmers not to become complacent when it comes to farm security, with 1,100 incidents reported with roughly €1.4m stolen from farms.
Criminals are organised and opportunistic. Farmers should be careful even when they leave their jeep running by the side of a road while they check cattle or sheep
Organised criminal gangs are suspected to be involved, with crime prevention officer for Laois and Offaly Sgt Graham Kavanagh stating that tractors are often targeted. Gardaí fear a large majority of crimes go unreported because farmers feel embarrassed or ashamed of being targeted and robbed.
Sgt Kavanagh urged farmers to come forward and report crimes to help gardaí deploy resources where they were needed in crime hotspots in rural Ireland.
“Criminals are organised and opportunistic. Farmers should be careful even when they leave their jeep running by the side of a road while they check cattle or sheep,” he said.
An ICSA survey conducted by WIT this year found that two-thirds of farm families have been affected by crime “relating to their farming enterprise”.
Research
Their research found that 47% of agricultural crime relates to vandalism/criminal damage/trespass, 43% relates to theft, 5% relates to fraud and 5% relates to criminal assault.
The theft of livestock is also a major concern, with Irish Farmers Journal analysis showing that 2,222 cattle have been stolen over the last decade.
Over the last decade the highest number of cattle stolen were taken from Monaghan and Meath and the cross-border nature of rural criminal activity has also been highlighted by the Gardaí and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
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