Kubota UK’s continued commitment and investment in the agricultural sector has been raised once again after the leading machinery manufacturer announced its adoption of the official CESAR Scheme for its M Series range of tractors.
The CESAR security and registration scheme is owned and managed by the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) and supported by the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA). By utilising Datatag ID technology, CESAR is designed to increase machine security and deter tractor theft.
Dave Roberts, Managing Director at Kubota UK, commented: “Farm equipment is a popular target for thieves. As a manufacturer, it’s our responsibility to do all we can to make our products as appealing as possible to our customers and less attractive to criminals.
“As part of our ongoing investment in the agricultural industry, I am delighted to announce that from 1st September, all of our M Series tractors will be CESAR marked. Datatag ID is proven in protecting and reducing machinery theft as well as being an essential technology for recovering stolen equipment.
“Another key benefit of fitting this technology on our M Series is the fact that our customers will now have the opportunity to benefit from reduced insurance premiums from NFU Mutual, and other leading insurers, who offer significant discounts for CESAR registered equipment.”
This news comes hot on the heels of the annual NFU Mutual Crime Report, which identified the cost of rural crime at £40m p.a. and notes that regrettably rural crime is once again on the increase.
Chris Harrison, Sales Director at Datatag ID Ltd, said: “We have been working in partnership with Kubota UK for a number of years helping to protect its market leading range of mini-excavators. It’s fantastic that the business has now decided to expand its support of CESAR for its M Series tractors.”
The Datatag ID system works by giving each piece of equipment a multi-layered ‘fingerprint’ that thieves cannot remove. Each Kubota M Series tractor will be fitted with four tamper evident registration plates with a unique registration number, RFID tags, Datatdots and forensic DNA.
CESAR operate a 24×7 call centre which the police and other enforcement agencies can use to establish the identity and ownership of CESAR registered equipment. CESAR protects over 250,000 pieces of equipment and the recovery rate for stolen CESAR registered machines is more than double that for unregistered equipment
Karen Tipping, Kubota UK’s marketing manager, concluded: “As a business, we are always looking at new initiatives that will benefit our customers, particularly when it comes to machine security. Rural crime is clearly a serious issue and Kubota is extremely proactive in supporting the police and making the farming community aware of the risks they face from opportunist and professional thieves.
“A recent initiative that demonstrates our approach is the partnership we have formed with Thames Valley Police. With the support of Kubota, the police force was the first in the UK to introduce a RTV utility vehicle into its fleet to tackle rural crime. This police liveried Kubota machine has been used extensively in rural crime situations and is regularly on display at agricultural shows to heighten awareness of rural crime and the recommended precautions which should be taken. Kubota and Datatag will be working together, in the coming months, to further promote crime awareness and prevention.”
