Local cattle farmers, fuming at their loss of $60 million to praedial larceny in 2005 and nervously anticipating that that figure will increase when last year’s figures are tallied, are proposing stiffer penalties for praedial thieves and the creation of a Farm Theft Bureau within the Organised Crime Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

The farmers have also proposed the establishment of three regional courts to exclusively prosecute cases of general theft from farms so as to expedite the disposal of cases.

According to Robin Crum Ewing, president of the Beef and Dairy Producers Association of Jamaica Limited, the slow pace of the legal system in investigating, prosecuting and disposing of cases of cattle theft leaves perpetrators free to serially plague small farmers.

“Cattle theft is a major threat to the revitalisation of the local beef and dairy sub-sectors, because it is driving farmers out of cattle farming and acting as a disincentive to potential investors,” he said.