Stock theft gives farmers the goat

Justin le Roux is a stock farmer just outside Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape. He runs about 120 head of beef cattle and has been farming for the past decade. Justin says stock theft is a major problem; not just for him, but also for his neighbours.

“Two weeks ago one of my cows was stolen. In the past two years I‘ve lost three cows and a bull.”

A cow can cost upwards from R7 000 and a bull anything between R15 000 to R25 000. If you do a rough calculation Justin lost R21 000 worth of cows, and a bull worth about R20 000.

That‘s a total loss of about R40 000. Justin says cattle prices have effectively tripled in the past year, which means his long-term losses are three times that.

He has been forced to drive his cattle closer to his farmhouse, and to avoid the outer reaches of his land.

That means less land to work with – limited grazing and a waste of land close to the borders of his farm. And when he does risk grazing them close to the boundaries, it means he has to make regular checks.

Dr Amie Aucamp, of the National Wool Growers‘ Association, says stock theft is a serious problem for commercial and communal farmers. He suggests three solutions: “Branding the animals, Anatolian shepherd dogs and the use of telecommunications.”

Branding is a common practice among stock farmers. But it‘s not an effective defence against theft and mutilation of animals.

Anatolian shepherd dogs are useful in warding off jackal and caracal, but cannot alert a farmer to potential stock thieves.

Telecoms, however, can be effective. Aucamp says, “Using a tracking device on one or two animals in a herd or flock, farmers can monitor where the animals are. From his or her office, the farmer is able to observe any disturbance.”

But, Aucamp says, the use of telecommunications in the Eastern Cape is limited: “Farmers, in general, do not use telecommunications to keep track of their stock. The technology is available – but at a cost.” Also, the use of telecommunication technology is dependent on cellphone coverage, which is not available on all farms. However, one telecoms tool that‘s already successful is the Veldwagter. It is a collar fitted with sensors that monitor the animal‘s behaviour. It can detect any unusual behaviour in the herd, and when it does, it sends an alarm to the farmer‘s cellphone. The device was developed by Philip Lutter, a former stock farmer himself.

He developed the collar after a losing battle with stock thieves on his farm in Caledon in the Western Cape. “As soon as there‘s a disturbance it sends an alarm call to the farmer‘s cellphone.”

Lutter says the Veldwagter collar measures three things – one of which is movement. He won‘t reveal the other two indicators for security reasons.

Only one sheep in a herd needs to be collared. For cattle though, because they are more expensive, Lutter says it pays to have two or three collars per herd.

Despite the R5 000 price tag, Lutter says sales are good. “Very good,” he chuckles. So good, in fact, he‘s stopped farming altogether, and producing the collar is his sole business now.

Leonie Yendall runs 500 head of cattle on her farm just outside of Grahamstown. She‘s been using the Veldwagter to curb theft.

She says she‘s prepared to pay the high price to protect her animals. “Yes, the collar costs R5 000, but one cow they killed cost R18 000 – you do the maths.”