HAGUE, Trelawny — Andries Essor came back strongly this year and took the champion farmer award at Hague Agricultural Show. It’s the second year in a row he has emerged the winner, even though thieves stole three of his cows the night before last year’s show and he is always haunted by the fear that they will strike again.

“Sleepless nights. It affect me to the point of where I sleep so [lightly] that even if I hear the door open, I jump up out of my sleep because you get so paranoid [about the fact that] you just don’t want to lose,” Essor told the Jamaica Observer at Hague on Wednesday.

“I’ve lost, I’ve suffered; about 12 cows they stole from me last year. I was supposed to come Hague Show last year and they steal three cows one night, the day before Hague,” he lamented.

Praedial larceny has long plagued the agriculture sector. According to ministry estimates, farmers lost about $8 billion to thieves in 2023 alone. Last year the Agricultural Produce Act was amended to include longer jail times and fines for individuals found guilty of preying on farmers. The fines now go up to $3 million or up to three years in prison.

On Wednesday Essor said that while he welcomes the move, even harsher punishment is needed.

“It needs longer penalties. When them [thieves] know that they are going to get five or 10 years then they are not going to do that,” he argued.

He suggested that innovative methods be used to combat theft within the industry.

“Them needed to take a deeper look, maybe like some drones or some satellite that [the thieves] not expecting, [to the point where] you see something and you don’t know if it is you it’s watching or what it is capable of doing,” Essor stated.

The use of drone technology to fight praedial larceny has been employed since at least 2016, but its effectiveness is still being assessed. In the meantime, Agriculture Minister Floyd Green has indicated that the goal is to expand the fleet of vehicles used to curb theft.

“You would have seen that last year we took some steps to increase the penalties for praedial larceny, and I’m pleased to advise that this year we’re going to be providing about 33 vehicles, through the Government of Japan, to our praedial larceny units across Jamaica so that we can have more vehicles on the ground,” he assured in his address during the Hague show’s opening ceremony.

However Essor is not convinced that this will help.

“I don’t think that going to help much because they already have the police patrolling. But remember, if the criminals see the police they are not going to be walking around with a gun in them hand and say, ‘Police, see me here.’ They have their scout and their little lookout on bike and bicycle who tell them that police just passed, or whatever it is,” he pointed out.

However, he tried to focus on the positives, like being named champion farmer for two years in a row.

“This year I’m overjoyed, and you see the work that I’ve put in. Just look at the goat that I brought and it won first place,” he said, proudly showing off his two-and-a-half-year-old pure bred boar who took home the blue ribbon following the judges’ assessment.

Essor said dedication made it happen.

“Hard work does pay off because it wasn’t an easy task getting him in this condition for this event. Fed him four times for the day: grains, hay, bread nut, alfalfa, and different types of feed, so it’s a mixture of diet each day,” he explained.