Rustling is on the increase and police say it's a problem they can't solve without widespread community reporting of suspicious activity.
Detective Sergeant Mark Moorhouse of Hastings police said the thieving was throughout the East Coast and linked to the price of meat.
"When you live in New Zealand and it is the main thing we grow here, and you go to the butcher and have to pay $40 for a leg of lamb - stuff that, they are going to steal it. It's simple maths.
"The price of stock has just gone out of control - some ewes have been going for $300 this year - the demand overseas is so great.
"I know guys who have lost 500 head this season. That's been in Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay - there is one guy who reported at the end of last year 300 hoggets gone from just out the back of Pakipaki."
The thieves are getting bolder. Five prime ewes were stolen from beside Doug Clark's house on the outskirts of Hastings - from a paddock adjoining his house.
Mr Moorhouse sympathised with the loss, but said the brazen theft was no surprise.
"If we have burglars out there who will go into somebody's house and burgle it when they are asleep, they're not going to think twice about jumping a fence and grabbing a few sheep. That's the reality of it."
He said only some of it ended up on the table as cheap meat.
"People think they are getting butchered for meat, but that's only a small percentage. There's a quotient of stock that are going to other farms."
He said ear tags were easy to remove.
"I'm not saying the farming community is dishonest but it's like anything, you are going to have the odd player that's happy to receive stuff he hasn't stolen himself.
"It depends what your moral standards stretch to, I suppose.
"It's actually a huge bloody thing - I don't know how we are going to tackle it to be honest."
In November Police Commissioner Peter Marshall signed a Letter of Agreement with Federated Farmers national and Hawke's Bay president Bruce Wills to promote a collaborative working relationship.
The signing came at a time when rustling was foremost in Mr Wills' mind after an incident on his Te Pohue farm.
"I was woken in a hurry early on a Sunday morning by a couple of rifle shots very close to the house," he said.
"I sat up in bed and said, that doesn't sound right. I jumped on the bike and a one kilometre up the road there was a white ute with two people with rifles, a couple of pig dogs and dead sheep everywhere.
"They threw two on to the back of the ute and took off.
"It was just absolute barbaric butchery. There was one running round with its jaw shot off."
He said he was wrong to drive right up to the thieves but in his anger he was determined to confront them.
"That's just what you shouldn't do - anger got the better of me. I should have stopped and taken out my phone to take a picture of these guys.
"The animals were very precious to me, there were in-lamb ewes all over the road.
"When I cooled down - these guys got away because they were in a ute and I was on a bike - I did ring the police. I thought, Bruce you have got to do as you say. The police were very kind and genuine but it took three days before they came out. I understand they probably have far more important things to do and we live in the country.
"As soon as I gave them the registration number they said, look we know these guys."
But three days later all evidence of the death of his 15 sheep, worth $2000-$3000, had been disposed of. "The police rang me back about a week later and said they couldn't pin it on these guys - it was my word against theirs. That incident is nothing special."
Shannon Reid, officer in charge of the Hastings Intelligence Unit, said police were determined to tackle the problem, even though on paper it looked like there wasn't one.
"We know there is a problem but when we look at the statistics it doesn't show as significant," he said.
"But the issue has been elevated to the point where the district and district intelligence unit are doing work on it. It is a serious problem for the rural community, but how to do anything tangible about it has been causing us problems."
Police were often aware of rustling only when dumped carcasses were found on public reserves.
Increased reporting of suspicious behaviour by the rural community was needed, with regular rural patrols impracticable in the region.
Mr Wills agreed.
"We encourage farmers to be vigilant and record suspicious activity and record car registration numbers.
"We encourage farmers to call police. If they can collect information police can build up a picture of activity in a certain area."
Mr Reid said if increased reporting did not occur, farmers might be forced to use sophisticated tagging solutions.
"Like a lot of things, it often becomes incumbent on the people being victimised to do things but they have to weigh up the cost/benefit."
Mr Moorhouse said increased reporting was vital.
"The higher the price of meat goes the more people are going to steal it - watch this space."