Ag crime on two continents--and an interesting rural crime reporting network in the UK

First out of New Zealand, a story about systematic slashing of plastic coverings on large hay bales in the Otago region of the South Island, specifically the community of Owaka.  The headline there is "Feed bales slashed in overnight attack, " and the story appeared on the website, Rural Life.  Of particular interest here is the apparent motivation for the attack:  the farmers whose hay was damaged are vocal anti-vaxxers and have opposed the government's COVID restrictions.  

Second, out of the north of England, the headline on Farmer Watch UK is "Rural communities In County Durham urged to be extra vigilant following fuel thefts."  An excerpt follows:  

Farmers and residents of rural areas are being urged to be extra vigilant following a national rise in fuel thefts.

Officers are advising people to keep their tanks out of sight and install security measures such as CCTV, padlocks and lighting to deter opportunistic thieves who have been targeting stores of heating oil.

Thieves traditionally target farms during the night which gives them more opportunities to get away unnoticed.

Farmer Watch UK, which I just discovered when this story came across my Twitter feed, describes itself as the UK's Number One Rural Crime Alert Network.   As one can see from just its home page, it is chock full of rural and farm crime, everything from the suspicious death of a Goshawk (protected species) in Wales to a Kent Farmer being sentenced after his worker became entangled in a potato harvester.  From Warwickshire come the report of a"Novice metal detectorist stopped by police for Roman treasure hunt at protected site," and from Stoke-on-Trent,  Staffordshire "Woman and dog mauled by 'Staffy' at popular beauty spot."  As I reference this site on April 1, there are seven reports from today alone.  One of them is this report of more proactive law enforcement out of Northumbria, "Almost 70 vehicles stopped, drugs seized and suspects arrested in fight to tackle rural crime."

Almost 70 vehicles were stopped, drugs seized and suspects arrested during a police operation to tackle rural crime. Officers across the region have partnered up to take further action against criminal activity in one of their biggest rural crime operations yet.

Operation Checkpoint, which is the biggest rural policing operation of its kind in the country, ran overnight on Wednesday, March 30, into the early hours of yesterday morning, and saw almost 70 vehicles stopped, drugs seized, suspects arrested and targeted initiatives carried out. Operation Checkpoint is an ongoing proactive initiative that targets suspected criminal activity in order to disrupt the organised network and protect communities by acting on local intelligence and emerging crime trends.

An interesting service for rural folks in the United Kingdom.  I see Farmer Watch UK is a registered company in England and Wales and based in County Durham., but I can't see any other information that reveals how runs it or how it is funded.