The BEST Ways to Protect Your Farm
No electricity? Don’t live on-site? Worried about your farm?
I was exactly the same. It’s difficult when you’re first starting out on a farm but can’t live on site.
Who’s there to look out for your animals?
What’s happening through the night?
How can you deter thieves and trespassers?
These were all questions I asked myself continuously when I began my farm. Having discovered signs of trespassers, and now keeping valuable livestock on site, I wasn’t just worried about animal predators but those of the human kind too. Here are some of my top tips for securing your homestead, farm or smallholding. Check out the video or see the list below.
1. BE VISIBLE
Trespassers, thieves or even those just taking their dog for a walk on your land want to do so secretly. To deter them, be visible and make it known that you’re there, every day, all day. Park your vehicle where it can be seen, put up fencing, conduct work near roadsides - this all makes it more unattractive to potential problems.
2. HIDE LIVESTOCK
Whilst YOU want to be seen on the land doing your thing, you don’t want to advertise animals, equipment and products which could be stolen or damaged. Ideally, keep paddocks of animals away from main roads. This is also true of electric fencing - flashing energisers at night are an luring proposition.
3. USE CLEAR SIGNAGE, GATES and LOCKS
Where possible, make a thieve’s life as difficult as possible by putting gates across paddocks and entryways and adding locks. The longer someone is on site, the more likely they will get caught. My sheep are bucket trained - don’t leave out food and buckets making it easy for people to grab your sheep. Also, erect signs about trespassing, prosecuting and CCTV. Even if you don’t have cameras, strangers to your land don’t know this.
4. REMOTE CAMERAS
If possible, use cameras. This can be difficult, especially if, like me, you have no electricity or WiFi on your property to run security from. However, this is where ReoLink can come in - a handy remote camera that works over cellular networks and can be solar powered. No electricity required!
I can’t champion these cameras enough. They are motion sensor, have a phone app so you can check on them, can be powered by solar and also have a voice link so you can not only hear what is going on but can speak directly through your phone and be heard from the camera. They are relatively inexpensive and you pay a small mobile network charge each month (in the UK, it’s £4 per camera via Vodafone). Check them out on my Amazon affiliates with the following links: For US | For UK
5. BE CAREFUL WITH SOCIAL
Talking of online shopping, something you must do when connecting via the Internet is be careful of what and where you post. Don’t advertise your stock! MANY farmers rely on gathering a social following but take care not to include locations on your photos and posts. Also consider your brand name carefully. For example, Brimwood Farm seems to be the only farm of that name in the world. Therefore, my real, physical address is NOT Brimwood Farm; otherwise you could just type it into Google Maps and find my exact location - a total win for thieves.
6. INSURANCE
Finally, make sure you have some insurance. Invasion of privacy and theft of belongings, especially animals, is bad enough without then having to worry about the financial implications. By having some cover you can take a little of the sting out of the tail and concentrate on trying to find your animals, or building back up after a theft occurs.
I hope this list has helped a little - it was something I had to think long and hard about when I moved to my new farm. If you’ve got any further suggestions of practical security ideas, then please let me know in the comments.