I'm a farmer, and I'm a biker. I've encountered locked gates on rarely used public roads and it surely pissed me off, but I chose to turn around and use an alternative route, which is normally available and also the regular used route in the area. Not my first choice at all, but so be it.
I've luckily not had that many stock thefts and I farm in areas not known to be a high risk in terms of farm murders or general security issues. That said, I have roads running through both farms, both not in regular public use, but regardless, both causes endless k@k. To such an extent that I fenced off the one road, losing more than 240ha of my farm in the process and you can imagine the cost involved. The issue with the odd user, especially hunters during winter made the situation unbearable and I lost many live stock, dying of thirst!
With the second road, I unfortunately do not have the option to lock the gates, but I'm seriously considering locking them from 6pm to 6am and putting up signs at both ends, warning users about this.
Thieves and murderers surely don't turn back at a locked gate, but I can assure you, only one ready and alert farmer on such a road will have them avoid it, if they can. So will anything else, like locked gates, that they know will slow them down in a getaway or make them stop, even if only temporarily. They will avoid attracting attention at all cost.
If they caused trouble, they always try to get to the closest tar road and town and they do not choose "difficult" routes to take them there.
We're living in a rather lawless country, with most of society having lost just about all respect for anything and anybody. Nobody really cares and everything goes. In many cases, farmers do not get any cooperation or help from the from the people who are suppose to apply the law. They are left on their own and have to act and do something themselves, to solve these issues. If the only way is to lock a gate, I sort of respect that. Many farmers deal with security and stock theft issues on a daily basis and they're pretty much on their own in terms of trying to stop this.
I know of a few who close roads only to be spiteful, but they're definitely the minority.
The solution, in my humble opinion? Find out beforehand whether a route is open and if you can't reach anybody, just use a regular route or road. There are many remote, seldom used roads that are open and to expect all to be open all the time is probably not wrong, but some mutual respect will do.
I bet ya, next time you ride a road where you previously popped some locks, you can expect a much more substantial challenge, so do take some serious pooping tools along - I know farmers...
