ANYONE with knowledge of farming can relate to the lamentations of those who lost crops and livestock worth hundreds of millions of dollars during the recent heavy rains.

St Thomas farmer Ms Pauletta Welsh who, we are told, lost all her produce because of the floods, summed up the situation in sharp, painful detail.

“Farming is not for the weak. Seeing all your hard work washed away is really disheartening,” she told our reporter.

“When they [farmers] think of how they have used up all their resources, effort, and time and now have nothing to reap, it is very hard …” she added.

In fact, so many are the challenges facing farmers that the rest of us should always pay homage for their sacrifice and determination to ensure our food security.

And, while the vagaries of the weather are bad enough, perhaps even worse are the farm thieves. They are said to be inflicting damage in the region of $8 billion annually to Jamaica’s agriculture — in the process forcing some people out of the business and dissuading many others.

Back in 2013, then Agriculture Minister Mr Roger Clarke (now deceased), in typically colourful style, described the situation thus: “…No flood, no drought… wreak as much damage as those people who have decided to reap what they have not sown.”

Today, we applaud current Agriculture Minister Mr Floyd Green for this week’s passage through the House of Representatives of amendments to the Agriculture Produce Act of 1926, proposing stronger penalties for farm theft, commonly referred to in Jamaica as praedial larceny.

We are told that under the amended Bill the maximum fine for those transporting stolen agricultural produce has moved from $250,000 to $1 million, and the maximum prison term of three months is now three years.

It has taken far too many years to come to this, but better late than never.

Of course, following the completion of the journey through Parliament, the amended law will only make sense with actual enforcement.

President of Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Mr Lenworth Fulton reminds us of the need for “much more surveillance” to catch farm thieves; that deep rural areas are difficult to patrol; that the police are already stretched thin; and that promised agricultural wardens should accompany the legislation.

Said Mr Fulton: “[T]he country is infested with serious crime, so unless you add some people [who] have specific reference to farm theft then it’s still going to be difficult… If you go to a police station to report that they steal your goat and somebody else is reporting a rape, they are going to attend to the rape — and rightly so.”

Also, it seems to us, farming communities must actively work with the police in the fight against criminals.

We have often made the point that well-organised, well-led communities are usually those with least crime since citizens stand together in partnership with the police.

The same principle should apply in agriculture, we believe. Farmers always working with the police and other local authorities, strictly in accordance with the law, should turn their face against criminals through farm watch programmes, etc.

Criminals thrive on disorganisation. We must organise, organise, organise to deal with crime.