It’s important not to underestimate the importance of security on your farm. Farm CCTV is something that can help greatly with this issue.

The Fletcher* family run a large arable and vegetable farm which is run across three locations in Fife.

In recent years, two of the three sites have been targeted by criminals, with items such as tools, lead and valuable irrigation piping being stolen.

After a recent spate of thefts, Robert Fletcher was advised by the local police to install a security system on his farm, in particular one that could enable the reading of number plates in order to be able to pick up details of unauthorised vehicles which come onto the farms.

A farming contact of the family recommended that they contact Self Guard, a company based in Broughty Ferry but which operates across central Scotland, to get a bespoke system fitted, including Farm CCTV, that could reduce the likelihood of future thefts and help to add peace of mind.

The Fletchers now have a system up and running on their main farm which is able to keep a close eye on their fuel tank and workshop as well as enable vehicle number plates to be easily read when they enter the farm road. The farm office, as well as the family’s remote devices such as iPhone and iPad, are now able to monitor the four Farm CCTV cameras located across the farm at any time, night or day.

In addition, a second system has been installed at one of the outlying farms, which is also monitored from the same central system.

Robert Fletcher, said:

“We installed the system over three months ago and have had nothing stolen since. So in that sense they are certainly working. This means that I am no longer losing money by having valuable items stolen and I also have the peace of mind, particularly at night time when the place is quieter, that everyone coming onto the farm is being monitored. Even just the prevention of one tank of diesel being stolen makes the entire system value for money so it’s paying for itself over and over. The value of farm machinery is rising all the time and so we need to be able to prevent ourselves from falling victims to theft.

“Next year, I think we shall probably install a similar system at our third farm so that we’ve got everything covered. There are horses and trailers at that farm and so one of Self Guard’s systems will no doubt prove extremely useful there in order to monitor comings and goings and prevent theft.”

In addition to the security focused system, Self Guard has also helped to make other farm business easier by installing wireless access in the farm yard.

Robert describes how it helps the business:

“A number of our tractors and vehicles have technology, such as autosteer, which requires regular software updates. We are now able to park them in the yard and use the wireless access to update this software, making life so much easier.

“The systems also means I can send a receive emails more easily, something that is very important during peak vegetable season when we are receiving large numbers of orders, and our agronomist who checks our crops can also upload key information before he has even left the farm.

“Essentially, everything we’ve done with Chris at Self Guard has been about making our farming business safer, easier to run and more cost efficient. I would highly recommend other farmers and rural businesses to work with Chris.

Self Guard specialises in the installation of bespoke Farm CCTV – providing systems for monitoring both security and livestock on farms. Contact Chris Cotton at Self Guard for more information.

*not their real name