Graziers fear the sheep-stealing could soar over spring as strong lamb prices fuel livestock theft across the state.

But farmers admit there is little more they can do to deter thieves from pilfering their flock, as reports surface that some brazen thieves are killing and skinning sheep on properties to simply steal the valuable carcasses.

Elders Livestock manager Kelvin Fitzgerald said it was distressing for farmers to have their stock stolen after a year of hard work getting the sheep ready for sale.

“Thieves can use a trailer to get them, but in some cases they just go into the paddock and kill them, skin them, gut them there and take the body,” he said.

This month, the Victorian Farmers Federation estimated about $1 million worth of sheep and cattle had been rustled over the past year, with New South Wales Farmers Association saying thefts had cost the industry $1.5 million.

Ouyen Police said about 26 sheep were stolen from the Ouyen saleyards in May, with a further 75 breeding ewes taken from a paddock near Underbool.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily 04/09/2010