A farmer in Northern Ireland resorted to setting up video camera surveillance in one of his fields after repeated thefts of silage bales.
Mervyn Rea, who farms 60ac, like many farmers usually stores the silage bales in the field where they are harvested from.
He never previously had a problem with this practice until February when he arrived one day to discover that eight bales, weighing an estimated 4t, had been stolen.
Rea said: “The silage is from grass on a field not suited for grazing, so I store it there and bring it down to the housed cattle every day throughout the winter.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw a huge gap in the bales when I went to pick one up.
“We’re a close-knit farming community that trusts and looks out for everyone – so this was completely unknown. News of what happened quickly spread among local farmers as it is so unusual. "
Silage bales
According to the suckler-beef farmer, the silage bales that were stolen “were very good quality – some of the best we have ever made”.
Rea subsequently discovered from a neighbour that they had seen a red tractor moving bales from the field in question but were not aware that any illegal behaviour was taking place in front of them.
Following the theft of the silage bales Rea decided to set up a video camera trained on the remaining bales and it recorded images of a Massey Ferguson tractor going into the field and taking a further 11 bales.
The next day he heard that the suspicious tractor had come back to the field again and he rushed to the field but did not manage to see the tractor himself.
The red tractor that had been identified by Rea’s neighbour did not return again.
Rea gave the recording he had made of the tractor driver illegally taking 11 of his silage bales to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) but neither the driver or vehicle could be identified from the images.
“The police didn’t seem to take the theft too seriously initially, but after the repeated thefts they did make a lot of effort to find who was responsible.
“Unfortunately, the camera images only showed the side of the tractor, and it’s not possible to tell one silage bale from another so it’s not been possible to bring a prosecution.
“Fortunately, our NFU Mutual insurance paid out for the loss – but it’s the impunity of someone repeatedly driving a tractor on to my land to steal bales that has hit me hardest,” the farmer added.
According to Rea the field where he stores his baled silage is now secured with a “sturdy chain” and he keeps a constant eye out for intruders following the incident.
The rural insurer, NFU Mutual Insurance, said this week that latest figures show the cost of rural crime in Northern Ireland rose by 50.7% last year to £2.5 million.
