As we have often argued, farming is not for the faint of heart.

Nor is it enough to merely want to make a living from agriculture.

Long-standing experience and observation suggests that farming is best left to those with a love for the land as well as a desire to grow and nurture crops and livestock.

The perils in operating a farm are many, and disaster can hit with very little warning as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa last October and Beryl 16 months earlier showed.

Those two storms are estimated to have cost Jamaican agriculture in excess of $34 billion, affecting tens of thousands of farmers.

Beryl, which sideswiped Jamaica’s south coast, and the much more destructive Melissa which crossed the island’s western parishes demonstrated for the umpteenth time that flood rains and strong winds can undo months of hard work and monetary investment in just a few hours.

And then there is drought, such as many sections of Jamaica are now experiencing with crops, and even livestock wilting away, because of inadequate rain and insufficient irrigation schemes.

For, as we all know, without water life becomes unsustainable.

The phenomenon of boom and bust, plenty and scarcity, in our largely unplanned, low-regulated market economy also poses a headache for those who choose to farm, because of the unpredictability of prices.

Yet, even for all of the above, perhaps the biggest turn-off for those who would otherwise invest in agriculture is the torment and torture caused by farm thieves.

As the late, legendary, former agriculture minister, Roger Clarke, colourfully framed it many years ago: “No flood, no drought… wreak as much damage as those people who have decided to reap what they have not sown.”

Estimates suggest that farm theft, often referred to as praedial larceny, is costing Jamaican agriculture billions of dollars.

We have had the feeling in more recent years that the authorities are now much more focused on dealing with the problem. We suspect the passage, two years ago, of amendments to the Agriculture Produce Act of 1926, imposing much stronger penalties for farm theft has helped. But the problem remains a real threat to national food security.

For that reason we are heartened by every instance of good news, such as a report emanating from Trelawny, north-western Jamaica, over recent days of significant reduction of farm theft in that parish because of vigorous police work.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Orville Bushay, who heads the Area One Agricultural Protection Branch of Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), is reported as saying that farm theft reports are now “almost nil” in Trelawny. He credited targeted, intelligence-driven police operations which have increasingly led to arrests and convictions.

DSP Bushay reportedly said that morale had risen among Trelawny farmers because of police successes. He spoke of one livestock farmer who had abandoned the sector because of thieves but had now returned to rearing cattle.

That’s music to the ears.

We believe that farmers should heed DSP Bushay’s advice to work closely with the police and with each other by forming farmers’ groups and sharing information to help tackle thieves.

Indeed, not only in agriculture, but in every nook and cranny and every sector of national life and economy, criminals must learn the hard way that there is no place to hide.