Ensuring food safety on farms is crucial so people can continue to have access to the nutrients they need. Every measure must be taken to guarantee a secure food future, from keeping pests away to tending to sick animals to protecting the lives of farmers.

During the 2020-2021 financial year, 59 people were murdered on South African farms during robberies. This calls for urgent security attention to prevent future occurrences and enable farmers to work confidently.

Providing farm security at any cost is worth it in the long run. Here’s how to secure your farm to maximize yield and prevent bankruptcy due to irreversible destruction.

1.  Use Security Cameras

Farms and other agricultural settings require a lot of security cameras. CCTV surveillance and cellular trail cameras can assist in keeping farm operations running efficiently, safeguarding livestock and keeping facilities and equipment under observation. 

2.  Set Boundaries

Prevent intruders from gaining access to your farmland by putting up no trespassing signs or physical barriers like a fence. This is particularly useful when preventing unaware passersby from stepping on your land, which may affect your newly planted crops. Fences can also prevent animals from leaving the premises.

3.  Tag Your Equipment

Tagging your farm equipment makes it easy to identify your property in case of theft. You can do this by imprinting serial numbers on all items. Tagging your animals with farm serial numbers can hasten your search if they wander off.

4.  Install an Alarm System

Alarm systems can help you track unusual events on your farmland and provide real-time notifications in an emergency. Driveway alarms can go off when strangers approach your farm gate.

5.  Use Pest Control

Securing farm food is about more than preventing thefts. Sometimes, pest invasion on your crops could lead to vast financial and food loss. Plant-eating pests can have detrimental effects on the biological control efficacy of nearby agricultural produce that affects the soil and may take a while to recover. Though some pests are beneficial to soil and plants, keeping them off your land by using pesticides can improve crop health.

6.  Keep Your Farm Illuminated

Flooding your farmlands with lights can be a suitable method of keeping intruders out and making it easy to quickly detect unusual activities during surveillance. You can install motion sensor lights instead of leaving power on whenever it is dark.

7.  Guard Your Farmland With Dogs

An economically efficient way to ensure food security is by getting a dog to guard farmland. Though they require care and feeding, investing in a well-trained guard dog helps ensure safety and saves money in the long run.

8.  Build Strong Storage Systems

According to reports, there is inflation due to ongoing food shortages in Africa and the Middle East, which prompt countries like Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and Morocco to import farm produce. The report suggests that these countries have low storage systems that continuously jeopardize food security. A solid food storage system like silos can contribute to a secure food future.

9.  Have Insurance

The concept of agricultural insurance is new in Africa, but some companies offer specialized plans that cover farm assets and equipment and protect against natural disasters on crops and animals. A portion of the cost of replacing stolen property may be covered by insurance.

10.  Join a Farmers’ Community

You can ensure security on your farm by becoming a part of a farmers’ community. You may not always be around to monitor activities on your land, but a watchdog group can keep an eye out for potential threats on your behalf.

11. Invest in a Secure Food Future

Investing in farm security could guarantee your plant and livestock safety and protect you from potential criminal attacks.