Sophisticated rural crime gangs are using drones to spy on Kent farmers – and it is costing them a fortune in stolen equipment.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) says the county's farms lost £1.9 million of equipment in 2022 – a 37% increase on the previous year.

And it is far higher than the national average – the National Farmers' Union recently reported a rise of 22%.

Thieves are reportedly spending time observing the routines of rural businesses before returning to steal their property.

The CLA says drones, which can be flown without a licence and cost less than £100, are used to identify weak spots, equipment storage locations, to track movements, scope building layouts and assess the presence of security.

The Construction Equipment Association estimates between 800 and 1,100 farm ATVS are stolen each year.

Top of the hit list are quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) as well GPS technology.

Crime victim sheep farmer Edward Lovejoy, of Tenterden, lost a quad bike worth up to £8,000 in May last year.

He farms 900 acres where, in addition to his flock of 1,400 ewes, he runs a campsite and butchery business.

The 41-year-old dad-of three said: They must have been watching us, probably using a drone. You do see drones around and it makes you wonder because they ignored all the other sheds and went straight for the one with the quad bike in it."

He upped the security on his farm and, when the thieves returned a year later, they were thwarted.

Last year, his Lovejoy Farm Partnership suffered the loss of 116 sheep, worth more than £16,000.

Mr Lovejoy added: "That was a very carefully planned theft. They came with a lorry, took what they could and left the rest. Clearly there was a chain ahead to slaughter the animals, butcher them and then sell them on."

Claire Wright, the CLA's National Access Adviser, urged farmers to report drone sightings over their land or property as they "might well be scoping your business out ahead of a potential raid".

Matthew Scott, Kent Police and Crime Commissioner supports the farm Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill, currently making its way through Parliament.

Tim Bamford, regional director of CLA South East, which represents farmers, landowners and rural businesses across Kent, said: “From tools and farm machinery to vehicles and horseboxes, rural crime is a massive issue and has a considerable impact on Kent’s farming sector.

“Kent is known as the picturesque Garden of England, but unfortunately rural communities are often blighted by criminals who will stop at nothing when targeting farms and businesses. The CLA welcomes the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill which comes into force in a few months."

The escalating scale of the problem is highlighted by the National Farmers' Union which last week reported the cost of rural theft soared by 22% last year. The figures were released by NFU Mutual.

In its 2023 Rural Crime Report, published on August 1, the insurer revealed that rural crime cost the UK an estimated £49.5m in 2022, up from £40.5m the previous year.

The war in Ukraine and the UK cost-of-living crisis have opened up illicit markets and farmers have increasingly found themselves targeted by both organised and opportunist criminals, says the NFU.

The NFU said: "This is having a dire effect on farmers’ well-being, many of whom are already facing significant challenges."

Rob Schroeder, owner of Kingswood Christmas Trees, near Maidstone, said: "Touch wood, we've been okay as far as crime is concerned.

"But you do hear from others about thieves targeting quad bikes or coming onto farms and cutting holes in the cabs of tractors to steal the GPS kit. One assumes it's going abroad on the black market."

He said that most farmers have to be aware of preventative measures.

Mr Schroeder added: "We have 24-hour security during the five weeks of trading at Christmas time to prevent thefts."

Claire Eckley, of Eckley Farms, near Staplehurst said the police's rural task force needs to be bigger.

She said: "They're good and they're interested, but they can end up being sent off to do something else, like Operation Brock. Sometimes they come out and sometimes they don't but equally the farmers need to feed into their intelligence gathering."

Mr Scott said Kent's new Chief Constable Tim Smith had assured him more officers had been assigned to rural crime.

He added: “The theft of equipment in rural areas can be a particularly harmful crime as it has consequences for businesses and the wider rural economy.

“I am pleased our Chief Constable has acted and listened to rural communities and made rural crime a priority within his control strategy. He has also expanded the specialist rural crime task force to provide an even better response to those communities."

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill provides a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to all new quad bikes and ATVs.

In practice, this is likely to take place at the dealership or store, but it could be done during the manufacturing process.