Farmers should invest in one secure shed on their farm to avoid becoming a victim of theft, gardaí have warned.

Farmers need to incorporate farm security into their planning to avoid becoming the victims of crime, Sergeant Tom O’Dwyer told farmers at a community alert meeting in Newcastle, Co Tipperary, recently.

“Most farms now are being run like a business and they should build security into their business plan,” he urged. “At the very minimum, I would advise farmers to have one secure shed on the farm where you lock away the valuable items like power tools, quads, ride-on lawnmowers, that type of thing.

“I often walk on to a farm and immediately see 10 things that thieves want just lying around,” maintained Sergeant O’Dwyer, who is the crime prevention office for Co Tipperary.

“Lads just throw stuff to one side, sheds are left open and bits and pieces left everywhere.”

Sometimes when we are called out to farms after a theft and you wonder if the farmer made any effort at all.

“Get a simple alarm system, so that if someone goes into that shed while you are down the back field doing hay, the alarm will ring your mobile,” he advised. “The same thing if someone goes into the shed in the middle of the night, your phone will ring and you can contact the guards.”

Trailer locks

Trailers are one of the items most often stolen from farms and the crime prevention officer advised that a simple lock for the hitch was a deterrent for opportunistic thieves.

“These lads want to drive in, hitch up and drive out again. A simple lock might be enough for them to move on down the road to somewhere else,” the sergeant said.

Property marking

He also advised farmers to mark their property with their Eircode or IFA Theftstop code and record the serial number of their tools and equipment.

A pilot programme in Co Cork where communities joined together to mark their property is now being rolled out by Operation ID and the gardaí. Communities can hire the marking machine and organise property-marking sessions with the owner’s unique Eircode. Marking costs around €2 per item.

“Garda stations are full of recovered stolen property that we can’t get back to the owners because we can’t identify them,” he explained. “If your property is marked, hopefully it can be recovered and returned to you.”

Where the owner can be identified and property returned, there is also a greater chance of successfully prosecuting the thieves, he added.

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