Merino sheep farmer George Gatenby has had enough of livestock and machinery being stolen from his property in Tasmania's northern midlands.
In the last 12 months, he has had sheep stolen, new gates ripped off their hinges, and vehicles taken.
"It's very frustrating," he said.
"With the gates for example, it needs to be replaced, put back up, it's quite hard to get materials at the moment, and finding the time and labour at the moment is quite hard, so yes, it just takes time.
"And with the livestock, it's the breeding and genetics, you've done a lot of work in developing and then they're just stolen and put into the marketplace."
Mr Gatenby said many other farmers in the area have also fallen victim to crime.
"I think every business in the surrounding area has been targeted, but a lot of people that I speak to in the area just get on with it, we just go and fix it," he said.
"[The thieves] are organised, they know when they're going to sell it after they steal it and they pick small moveable things that they can sell online, they know they can move it quickly and make some money for the week.
"We're in a remote location without people around us to help us if something goes wrong, so we're mindful that these types of people could be dangerous, and they're working at night without their lights on."
Farmers hesitant to officially report theft
The peak body representing Tasmanian farmers said more needed to be done to deter and stop farm thefts, but also acknowledged farmers needed to report it to Tasmania Police for action to be taken.
"We're just continuously getting reports of trespass, theft, anything from side-by-sides, four-wheel motorbikes, assorted tools, people are even taking gates off hinges, we're getting people cutting fences," president of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Ian Sauer said.
"It seems to be a growing issue."
Mr Sauer said there were many reasons why people stole from farms, from rising cost of living pressures to just wanting to make a quick dollar.
"Eighteen months ago, farmers were getting stock theft and we think that was directly linked to the price of meat in the supermarket,' he said.
He said there was still a level of hesitancy for some farmers to report the theft, which further added to the challenge for authorities.
"Farmers need to contact the police but there's an issue there where farmers don't want to talk about it publicly because they're scared of retribution," he said.
"I've heard of farmers who have been threatened, you know, if they want to go and take this to the police, then they'll drop a match.
"But at the end of the day, if farmers notice theft, they need to report it … they can also set up cameras around the property and that'll help police as well."
Many challenges in prosecuting
David Higgins is the CEO of Crimestoppers Tasmania and said farm theft was a constant threat.
"We always try and stay vigilant as farmers and I'm a farmer as well, we're always on the lookout and checking if we have the right amount of livestock, looking for suspicious vehicles or people on our farms, it's constant," he said.
"With the cost of living increasing and various essential items increasing, you'd likely see that people start turning to crime to supplement."
Mr Higgins said it would take a community effort to curb crime on farms.
"It's really up to the community, the people who live in the regions and the rural areas to report what they see, from suspicious behaviour to thefts, no matter how small it is," he said.
"Even if they don't feel it's necessary for police to take action, it can become part of their intelligence holdings, so that they can become aware of who the offenders are and where the hot spots may be increasing."
Tasmania Police said in a statement that farm theft could involve offences such as stealing or trespass.
Offences are categorised by offence type rather than the site they occur; making it challenging to record a "spike" in theft.
"However, it is possible to extract these details through manual analysis of area type (e.g., rural, or urban) informed by postcode, for example," the spokesperson said.
"Tasmania Police is committed to reducing crime across the state. Matters like these should always be reported so they can be investigated, and perpetrators can be held to account."
