There is not doubting the fact rural crime is increasing and particularly on farms, but so too is the fight against the criminals who are fearless in their attack on all sectors of the industry which has serious financial implications for all concerned not to mention the mental well being of the individual farmer and his family.

Figures from Police Scotland for the year to August 31, 2019, show that the actual cost of rural crime in Scotland, to include plant and machinery, fuel and livestock totalled a massive £5,810,467. The actual amount recovered over the same time period amounted to £1,479,626, a figure which is increasing day by day.

More worrying however is the fact that the vast majority of crime on farm and particularly relating to the theft of livestock, is done by individuals who know the industry.

"Scotland is such a rural country and farms in particular are an easy target for criminals," said Inspector Alan Dron, Scotland's national rural crime co-ordinator.

"The sad thing is, often it is farmers who are committing the crime when it comes to livestock theft as they are the only ones who have the dogs capable of gathering the sheep and the livestock trailers to transport them away," he said adding that sheepdogs and puppies have also been targeted in recent years.

"We can't stop rural crime but we can reduce it and much of that is dependant on individuals and rural communities taking a stance, which many are.

"People are now talking to us on a regular basis. We now know where the hotspots are and in most cases who is committing the crime, but we also need farmers to be more pro-active," Inspector Dron said.

He also highlighted the benefits of fighting back against the criminal, with those who have invested in the new TecTracer sheep keel, which marks livestock with thousands of forensic coded microdots that are virtually impossible to be identified or removed and unique to a particular farm, having stopped all sheep theft by those who use the keel.

The keel which contains a forensic code held in a secure database, proactively broadcasts any theft of livestock to others, such as auction marts, abattoirs and the police, via email, and on-farm signage, is given in addition to the marker in order to warn off thieves, meaning the system, fondly labelled Operation Bo Peep! creates a very strong deterrent against theft.

"TecTracer has been a huge success as the farms that are using it have not had any losses. I would encourage all sheep farmers to use it because a lot of what is believed to be 'black loss' is not accidental, but sheep being stolen from farms."

There is a range of other technology that can be used to protect livestock, including dogs which are also being targeted, and machinery too. This includes communicating more with neighbours and establishing a 'farmers' watch scheme whereby photographs and information on strange people, vehicles and number plates, in the area are distributed.

And, instead of CCTV, Inspector Dron advised farmers to invest in the new uWatch system which is a comprehensive alerting system comprising a battery of mains powered Cube with built in mobile phone, bluetooth vibration sensor, apps, tablet and web pages.

Portable and instantly deployable alerting system with applications for simple peace of mind for "are the kids home from school? to real time crime detection, the Cube detects movement over a distance of 3-5m and a span of 135degrees. It can also take wide angled date and time stamped, high or low resolution pictures at night.

And, while rural crime often goes undetected for a period of time, the Cube notifies the owner if plant machinery or vehicles etc are moved as bluetooth shock tags on gates and fences will alert individuals of any intruders instantly, which in turn means the police can be called immediately if need be instead of after the crime has been committed.

The Cesar scheme is another deterrent against machinery theft, with a Cesar registered machine four times less likely to be stolen and six times more likely to be recovered if stollen, according to the company.

The scheme combines Datatag ID technology, overt and covert deterrents, a low one-off cost to protect a machine for life and a secure and accredited dedicated24/7 UK secure contact centre.

Inspector Dron can be contacted on alan.dron@scotland.pnn.police.uk