Opinion: We caught our farm thieves on camera. It still wasn't enough

We have eight mule sheep on our farm at the moment who appear to have decided that fences are merely a suggestion. They are becoming the bane of my life. No matter where we put them, they seem determined to find their way into our neighbour's field, leaving me with the increasingly one-sided task of trying to convince them that the grass really is not greener on the other side. At least, for now, they are escaping of their own accord. Speaking of not respecting farm boundaries, Jeremy Clarkson hit the news again last week after 11 EasyCare ewes were stolen from his Diddly Squat farm. The timing was particularly apt, with Rural Crime Action Week beginning this week and once again highlighting a problem which is all too familiar to farmers. READ NOW: 11 sheep stolen from Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm You cannot lock a farm Theft is nothing new in agriculture. Tools, quad bikes, machinery, GPS equipment, fuel and even livestock are valuable, often relatively accessible and spread across farms which can cover hundreds or thousands of acres. You can lock a workshop. You cannot lock a farm. A few months ago, we had our own reminder of that when thieves broke into one of our sheds and stole a number of tools. The frustrating part was that we had cameras. In fact, we had very good footage of the whole thing. It even captured one particularly identifiable, rather large man wearing designer trainers, which were delightfully ruined when he stepped straight into cow muck during the theft. Watching that back provided at least some satisfaction. Unfortunately, it did not get our tools back. Despite having footage of the theft, the police were ultimately unable to do anything about it. I do have sympathy for the police. Rural areas are enormous, resources are stretched and catching somebody who has arrived at an isolated farm in the middle of the night and disappeared again is obviously far from straightforward. But that does not make it any less frustrating when you have watched somebody walk into your own shed, take your property and leave. The cost of protecting your farm For farmers, there is another element to rural crime which I think can sometimes be overlooked. A farm is not simply our place of work, it is also our home. That makes somebody coming into the farmyard or breaking into a building feel so invasive. And for young farmers, there is a financial side which is perhaps even more important. We talk a lot about the cost of getting into farming. Perhaps we do not talk enough about the cost of protecting what you have managed to build. If you are starting a contracting business, building up a flock or buying the tools and equipment you need to make a living, having thousands of pounds' worth disappear overnight is not just irritating. It can be a serious hit. Then there is the cost of trying to prevent it happening in the first place: cameras, trackers, locks, gates, lighting and insurance. All sensible investments, but more money which has to come from somewhere. Our experience also proved that even doing the sensible things does not necessarily make you immune. READ NOW: Man arrested for suspected theft of agricultural vehicles Rural crime cannot become normal Perhaps the most worrying thing is how accepted all of this has become. Ask a group of farmers about theft and it will not take long before somebody has a story about a quad bike taken, a workshop broken into, machinery disappearing or, as Clarkson has now experienced, livestock vanishing from a field. The answer cannot simply be to tell farmers to buy another camera, fit another tracker or put another lock on the gate. Rural Crime Action Week is a useful reminder to take security seriously, but it should also be a reminder of why farmers need policing which understands the particular challenges of rural areas. From our own experience, the problem is not necessarily that the police do not want to help. It is that rural forces are stretched too thin to give every incident the response it deserves. One of the first things the police said when they arrived here was that it was 'not likely' the thieves would be caught. How can that be the norm? If Government is serious about tackling rural crime, those forces need the resources to actually do it. As for our eight escape artists, they are safely back where they belong. For now. It turns out keeping the sheep in is only half the battle. Keeping everyone else out can be considerably harder. LISTEN NOW: "You think it's never going to happen to somebody you know": Sam Stables and Louise Layton on mental health in farming | For Flock's Sake Ep. 6