Livestock theft value highest in a decade in Victoria

The value of livestock and other possessions stolen from Victorian farms has hit a 10-year high, as police focus on under-reporting.

The value of livestock and property stolen from Victorian farms has hit a 10-year high, with lightfingered looters costing landholders a staggering $6.7 million.

More than $2.8 million worth of animals were taken from properties in the year to September 2022, including cattle valued at $850,000, horses worth $215,000 and nearly $1.5 million worth of sheep, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.

Other stolen items included diesel fuel worth $140,000, almost double the previous highest amount of $76,000 in 2019; and farm equipment worth $657,000, the highest recorded since the $296,000 reported in 2014.

Power tools ($660,000), unregistered trailers ($63,000), water tanks ($20,000) and pumps ($17,000) were also stolen.

But Victoria Police farm crime coordination unit head Inspector Paul Hargreaves said the real number of farm thefts could “most definitely” be higher, with under-reporting rife among a sheepish farming fraternity.

Victoria Police farm crime coordination unit head Inspector Paul Hargreaves is seeking public help in reducing livestock theft across the state. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Insp Hargreaves said policing large and expansive rural areas “without CCTV running on every corner” was problematic, and hoped to work more closely with rural communities to prevent and solve crimes.

He said reasons for under-reporting ranged from a lack of confidence that police would solve the crime, to not wanting to waste police resources.

“We just need the information to lead us in the right direction. The better patterns are understood, the better we can identify offenders,” Insp Hargreaves said.

“I am seeing a lot of hardworking people trying to earn their dollars honestly and our job is to try to stop unscrupulous activity, but we do need public support to do that.”

Solving livestock theft is replete with problems, chiefly that sometimes by the time a crime is reported it can basically be cold.

Of the 212 livestock thefts recorded across Victoria last year, there was one arrest and 183 incidents remain unsolved.

Most recently, 700 ewes and lambs’ worth around $140,000 were stolen from a western Victorian farm sometime between October 21, 2022 and February 1, 2023 - the largest theft of its kind in Victoria in recent history, but the lag in reporting left police with little evidence to pursue.

Insp Hargreaves said thieves mostly killed stolen animals for meat, used them for breeding, introduced them into flocks, or sold them cheaply for a quick dollar.

While the number of livestock thefts dropped slightly year-on-year from 245 to 212, their value rose from $2.1 million to $2.6 million.

Of the 212 livestock thefts recorded across Victoria last year, there was one arrest and 183 incidents remain unsolved. Picture: Zoe Phillips

And, while the overall number of crimes reported also fell from 2992 to 2207, the value of items stolen increased from $5.8 million to $6.7 million.

The Victorian Farmers Federation has called for the creation of a specialist rural and farm crime squad to sit within police command. However, Insp Hargreaves said the network of 78 farm crime liaison officers based in stations throughout regional Victoria was “very agile and flexible”, albeit they performed other duties.

“Luckily for us a lot of our recruits come from rural areas or have extensive farming backgrounds and are passionate and want the best results,” he said.

“I want to get the police out more often and engage rural people how they want to be engaged and that is face-to-face at the saleyards, at the horse races, on farms and at shows or in the street.”

He said partners along the agriculture value chain, from carriers to abattoirs, insurers, also had a role to play in reporting crime or suspect behaviour so “we can help keep the producers producing”.