AYRSHIRE FARMERS have attended a rural and wildlife crime information event, jointly held by NFUS and Police Scotland.

The day, which was organised by Ayrshire's wildlife crime officer, PC Graeme Gordon, and NFUS regional manager, Christine Cuthbertson, was held at Garryhorn Farm, Maybole, by the Lynch family, and featured guest speakers from SP Energy Networks, NFU Scotland, NFU Mutual, Police Scotland, Tracker and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Each speaker gave advice and answered questions about rural and wildlife crime, and advised on how to best deal with it. PC Gordon encouraged farmers to be more savvy about farm crime: "If changes are made, which will ultimately help to prevent thefts being carried out on farms, such as removing keys from vehicles, making sure sheds and gates are locked, and generally making it a lot more difficult for people to steal things, then it could positively affect insurance premiums."

Farmers were encouraged to talk openly with the police officers in attendance about their worries of on-farm crime - and the times when they perhaps felt like the police would not be able to help.

PC Gordon continued: "You often get farmers coming to us and saying 'oh but there's no point in phoning the police because they don't do anything' and you can see sometimes why they may feel like that.

"The unfortunate thing is that sometimes all we can do is come out and look at the scene, and take as much evidence from it as possible, but there isn't always that much we can do with the little evidence we do get, and therefore no criminal charges are brought.

"Farmers often accuse us of not dealing with it properly when that happens, but I am trying to get the message across that we do care about it, and want to do as much as possible to help.

"Even if they think it's something really small, we want to know about anything suspicious or criminal that has taken place on farms,” he insisted. “Sometimes it may seem like nothing, and we might not be able to take much from it, but in other cases, it can sometimes tie up with other crimes that have happened, and we can start to look at that and point to a link or a common denominator, which can then lead to a prosecution.

"Not only can this lead to criminal charges, it can also alert other farmers in the local area about what's happening and what to be aware of."

PC Gordon is hoping to run more crime information days, with another one scheduled to be held at Feoch Farm, Darvel, by the Ireland family, in December.

For in-depth news and views on Scottish agriculture, see this Friday’s issue of The Scottish Farmer or visit www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk