Record number of US cow thefts

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As the economy spirals downwards, cattle thefts have reached record levels in the United States.

An estimated 4,500 cattle have been reported missing or stolen this year in Texas and Oklahoma alone.

A local sherriff says the theives know exactly what they are doing.

"These guys are not your typical fly-by-night, let's-steal-a-cow kinda people," he told Time.

An Oklahoma farmer recently checked on his livestock to find two gutted Black angus calves. The thieves left the entrails and took the meat, along with another 400-pound calf. It cost the rancher around $1800(NZ $2234).

The thefts are being blamed on high beef prices, which have made livestock more valuable - and it's not just cattle.

Recently, 6000 lambs were stolen from a farm in Texas and 1000 pigs were taken from farms in Iowa and Minnesota.

The thieves have developed sophisticated techniques, pulling up trailers in the middle of the night, knowing exactly how to coax the animals inside and even replacing pasture fences that they've cut to get to the animals.

One farmer stumbled across one of his branded cows on another man's property. Officials later discovered 36 cows and 31 calves on the property, belonging to nine different people, all worth $68,000 (NZ $84200).