Farm Security Tips

Your farm or ranch is your little corner of the world and your happy place, so it’s no wonder it may also appeal to others. Adding farm security measures can help you protect your family, livestock, and property — not to mention it can also prevent others from wandering onto your property and injuring themselves.

Although each farm is unique and may have different safety needs, these tips can help you get started on boosting your security measures.

Mark your perimeter. One of the easiest measures you can take is tacking up “private property” or “no trespassing” signs around the perimeter of your land. This may be all you need to keep unaware hikers from wandering where they shouldn’t.

Gates and fences. For added security, you might want to add secure fences, gates and locks to keep out intruders and to keep in adventurous livestock.

Lighting. Thieves and vandals love the cover of darkness. By taking it away, you instantly make your farm less appealing. Consider adding permanent, timed and/or motion lights to brighten up dark spaces.

Security cameras. There are two approaches to security cameras on the farm — one is to have your cameras out in plain view as a deterrent and the other is to hide them so you get good, clear images and don’t invite camera vandalism.

Driveway alarms. Know when someone is on or approaching your property with a driveway alert system.

Lock and key. Keeping your valuables locked up and making sure to lock vehicles goes a long way in preventing farm theft. But you may want to go a step further and only give keys to trusted employees, making sure they’re returned if they leave the position.

Look like you’re home. While you don’t have to be home, it may help to appear as if you are. Consider going a step beyond timed lights and put televisions and radios on timers too. Hearing voices or music coming from a barn or house gives the illusion that people are nearby.

Neighborhood watch. Of course rural life doesn’t lend itself to a traditional neighborhood watch, but you can still get great benefit out of connecting with neighbors and law enforcement. Keep each other up-to-date on anything suspicious or unusual. Ask law enforcement to let you know what your local rural crime trends are and what steps they’d recommend to protect your farm.

These farm security tips should give you a good starting point and may even inspire you to come up with some of your own precautions. But remember, some of the best security you can have on and around your farm is the right insurance coverage. Contact your American Family Insurance agent (Opens in a new tab) to make sure you’ve got the coverage you need to protect your hard-earned dreams.