The number of incidents of agricultural crime reported in Northern Ireland fell by 27% in the 2015/16 financial year compared with the previous 12 months, according to figures obtained from the PSNI by the Irish Farmers Journal.

Agricultural crime relates to burglary, robbery and theft where the items stolen were linked to agriculture or the location was a farm or a farmhouse.

The most recent figures available for the 2015/16 financial year show that 514 incidents were reported to police in NI, compared with 706 cases in 2014/15. The number of agricultural crime cases also fell between 2013-14 and 2014-15 by 19%.

Across policing districts, figures available for the last six financial years show that the Armagh city, Banbridge and Craigavon district has historically had the highest number of cases of agricultural crime in NI.

In 2015/16, 91 cases of agricultural crime were reported in the area, although this fell by 44.5% from 163 cases in 2014-15.

Agricultural crime dropped in 10 of 11 policing districts in NI between 2014/15 and 2015/16, with the exception being the Ards and North Down district where cases rose from 15 to 19.

Incidents of crime in rural areas across NI (not just agricultural crime) decreased by 8.5% in 2015/16 from 6,809 cases in 2014/15. The Newry, Mourne and Down policing district had the highest number of rural crime cases at 1,083, with this also falling from 2014/15 levels by 7%. Figures for the last six financial years show that crime in rural areas has consistently fallen across NI.