The Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) is warning growers to guard against criminal gangs seeking to raid storage facilities for plant protection products.
The organisation adds that farmers should be wary if offered products for sale from unknown sources.
The warning comes after break-ins at two distributor stores in Bedfordshire and Norfolk. Thieves used tools to cut through fencing and gained access to the storage units before stealing significant quantities of product.
AIC’s head of crop protection & agronomy, Hazel Doonan, said: “In light of these thefts, businesses which store professional plant protection products may wish to check that own their security measures are sufficiently robust.
“Farmers and growers are reminded to only purchase PPPs from reputable suppliers. A professional PPP supplier must employ a member of the BASIS professional register to give advice on professional PPP use.
“Using PPPs that are of unknown provenance can risk business reputation, the acceptance of end produce treated with the product, farm assurance status, and even prosecution.”
If you are suspicious of any products being offered, contact the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at CRDEnforcement@hse.gov.uk.