New laws will require all new ATVs and GPS units to carry forensic markings in a bid to crack down on rural machinery theft — a major victory for the industry after years of campaigning.
The move follows a sharp rise in the theft of farm vehicles and GPS equipment, crimes increasingly linked to organised gangs targeting rural areas across the UK.
The government confirmed the measure in its response to the Home Office’s call for evidence on extending the Equipment Theft Act, which became law in 2023.
The original act gave ministers powers to introduce regulations deterring the theft and resale of agricultural equipment such as quads and ATVs.
In its latest response, the government said it would introduce new regulations to parliament this year requiring all new ATVs and GPS units to have forensic markings and to be registered on a property database.
The NFU worked closely with Greg Smith, MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, and the National Rural Crime Unit on shaping the legislation.
“Rural crime continues to be a huge issue for our members and we welcome the government’s recognition of its devastating consequences in the Equipment Theft Act’s secondary legislation,” said NFU vice-president Rachel Hallos.
Hallos welcomed the government’s recognition of the scale of the problem but warned that critical opportunities to strengthen the Act had been missed.
“Former Minister for Policing and Crime Prevention Dame Diana Johnson’s remarks at our NFU summer reception earlier this year – that there is still more to be done in tackling machinery theft – still rings true,” she said.
“The inclusion of removable GPS units in the legislation is a positive step forward, especially with GPS theft still on the rise and NFU Mutual’s latest report showing it cost more than £4 million last year.”
However, she said the government had failed to include mandatory immobilisers for new ATVs, or to extend protection to larger agricultural vehicles and GPS units integrated with machinery.
Since the Equipment Theft Act came into force, the industry has repeatedly called for a mandatory registration scheme for ATVs and high-value farm machinery, along with defined standards for tracking, forensic marking and immobiliser technology to improve recovery of stolen assets.
The government’s response confirmed that the new secondary legislation would not cover those measures.
“While progress has been made, this response feels like a missed opportunity to deliver meaningful deterrents against the organised criminal networks targeting our sector,” Hallos added.
The NFU said it will continue to lobby for stronger security requirements in future legislation, including the fitting of immobilisers on new ATVs and extending the rules to larger agricultural equipment.
Hallos said that while forensic marking was a welcome deterrent, a more comprehensive package of measures was still needed to protect farmers and rural businesses from increasingly sophisticated criminal activity.
With rural machinery theft costing farmers millions of pounds each year, the union said it would monitor how the new rules are implemented — and continue pressing for broader reforms to keep pace with evolving rural crime.
