NFU welcomes new police powers to help recover equipment stolen from Northamptonshire farms

The NFU has welcomed long-awaited new laws to help the police recover stolen agricultural equipment from across Northamptonshire.

Farmers are pleased after the Crime and Policing Bill received Royal Assent as they deal with the huge burden of rural crime, which hampers food production and causes them emotional and financial loss.

Part of the legislation means police can now enter premises without a warrant to recover electronically tracked equipment that has been reported stolen.

With agricultural vehicle thefts reported to rural insurer NFU Mutual in 2024 costing £7 million, the scale of the problem facing farming businesses is clear.

Time is critical in cases of machinery theft and enabling police to act immediately when the location of stolen equipment is known should improve recovery rates, disrupt organised rural crime and provide farmers and growers with the much-needed confidence that these crimes are being taken seriously.

Farmer Jane Bassett, NFU Midlands regional chair, said: “The new legislation around machinery theft is something the NFU has campaigned for and is a welcome step forward in the ongoing battle against rural crime in Northamptonshire and beyond.

“This issue causes huge disruption to our farms, hampers our ability to produce food and costs massive amounts to put right.

“I have spoken out about it in the past, having dealt with it on farm and seen the impact it has across the Midlands.”

While the legislation also gives ministers greater powers to issue statutory guidance to councils in England on the enforcement of fly tipping, the NFU has said it does not go far enough to address the undue burden waste crime places on farmers and growers.

Private landowners are currently left to bear the cost and responsibility of clearing illegally dumped waste, leaving victims to deal with the financial, emotional and logistical consequences of a crime they did not commit.

NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt said: “These new police powers are a welcome step in the right direction, providing some much-needed peace of mind for farming families impacted or worried about equipment theft.

“Farmers are nothing if not resilient. Every day we deal with pests and diseases, changing weather and volatile markets and yet every day we get up and produce food for our nation. But rural crime chips away at that resilience. It leaves farmers and growers scared to go to work, worried in their own homes and feeling powerless in the face of dangerous criminal activity.”

She said equipment theft, hare coursing, waste crime, livestock worrying and other rural crime had unfortunately become an everyday reality for many farmers.

“The government must do more to address the unfair burden of clearing illegally dumped waste as well as ensure rural police forces and councils are properly resourced to implement new powers effectively, as enforcement without adequate funding risks limiting their impact on the ground,” she added.