12 July, 2012

Farms and rural properties have often been a honey pot for the opportunist thief. In the current financial climate fuel, oil and metal are very lucrative commodities and livestock, machinery, tools and equipment are relatively easy to "sell-on". Farms and rural property are also easily accessible playgrounds for ne'er do wells looking for cheap entertainment and this can result in petty damage, mindless vandalism and even arson.

There are obvious practical steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of this sort of crime affecting you such as locking buildings, securing machinery and tack, keeping tools hidden from view and improving and maintaining boundary gates and fences. However, even with these precautions in place farms and rural locations are inherently difficult to secure effectively, being large open areas with isolated buildings which house high value assets. Protecting against theft and damage can be easier said than done.

Technology may well provide part of the solution. For some years portable standalone high definition cameras have been used by the BBC Natural History Unit to track animals and develop story lines for their blue chip "Life" series. Recently this technology has been adapted to create high definition security cameras specifically for rural security applications.

There are several benefits in using these security cameras to monitor your land. They don't need to be plugged in or have cabled communication and can be left in the field for over 1½ years without changing batteries. It records pin-sharp images with sound, but most importantly it contacts you via email or mobile phone within 10 seconds if something unusual is noticed by the camera. This means you can immediately respond to any potential dangers wherever you are.

These cameras are often a more cost effective way of monitoring many remote rural locations than installing conventional CCTV systems which can be very expensive and difficult to set up and maintain.

If you find it hard to secure your property it may be worth looking into this method of rural security. However, even with this sort of technology in place, it is important to protect your business by taking all necessary precautions.

Luke Sanger is a consultant for Country Watch. If you feel that specific advice on monitoring or security would be useful to you then Country Watch can advise.