One in five Welsh farmers were victims of crime last year

The survey from NFU Cymru highlighted that over half of those rural crimes in Wales last year were theft, almost a third involved trespass and 16 per cent were fly tipping.

Of those farmers 10 per cent had been targeted on more than one occasion in the last year – and a quarter said that the financial loss to their business as a result of those incidents was in excess of £1,000.

The survey also shone a light on the preventative measures farmers have taken in the last five years to deter criminals and secure their machinery, tools and stock.

Over half of the farmers questioned said they had upgraded building security and routinely removed equipment from vehicles overnight.

However, many farmers had gone to further lengths, with 35 per of farmers saying they had installed CCTV on their farm and almost 30 per cent having blocked field entrances.

Almost a third of farmers stated that they had invested at least £1,000 in crime prevention measures in the last five years.

NFU Cymru says the findings of the survey further underline why it is so important that candidates in the May 6 Police and Crime Commissioner elections commit to prioritising tackling rural crime as a strategic objective.

President of NFU Cymru, John Davies said: “The statistics from our survey are all the more disturbing when you consider that they are drawn from a year when the nation was largely ‘locked down’ due to coronavirus restrictions.

"We must not forget that the data in these findings is more than a number – it represents a farmer and a business that has experienced a loss or an illegal disturbance.”