Yet those who are apprehended are generally served small fines -a Southland rustler incurred a fine of $116 recently and community service (in his case 80 hours) which amounts to a slap with a wet bus ticket.
Federated Farmers is seeking to make rustling and poaching a criminal offence.
This would include provision for "higher aggravated offending," where weapons are involved.
Additional teeth would come in the potential confiscation of vehicles, equipment and working dogs.
The Federation's Manifesto outlines the need to develop stronger penalties and relationships with police and government to establish a rural policing strategy.
This strategy would build on a Memorandum of Understanding Federated Farmers has with police and may open a role for organised rural community patrols.
Federated Farmers' board member, Katie Milne, believes the theft of significant numbers of stock in solitary raids, implies perpetrators, "are organised and working in groups with stockmen, working dogs and trucks".
Farmers could feel threatened having to deal with people requesting access to their land sometimes with firearms and dogs.
Criminals can exploit distance and isolation by engaging in cannabis cultivation and theft of farming equipment.
The Federation's rural security spokesperson, Rick Powdrell, himself a rustling victim, said: "The current law offers no deterrent. We've seen sob stories being rewarded with community service and af ew dollars in reparations. This doesn't reflect the gravity of the crime or the likely suffering of an animal being slaughtered by a rank amateur."
As it stands, rewards for the prospective rustler far outweigh the risks and subsequent penalties if caught. With the red meat sector booming and supermarket prices on a perennial upward trend, the perpetrator has plenty of motivation.
"It's a low blow because once you lose stock you cannot replace them. They are gone and it robs your farm business of vital income," Rick Powdrell said.
Agriculture strikes back Scorpion 1000 (0800 002 092) potentially changes the effectiveness of rural security.
A' seismic detector' with piezo alarm is capable of detecting mechanical vibration (like vehicles or stock trucks).
Perfect for remote in- truder detection, a notification is transmitted via satellite with GPS coordinates, showing the precise activation location and time.
It also has options for inside farm structures and for farm plant too Day/Night CCTV, which are either low or self-powered can be set up in pinch points to record vehicle and people movements in and out.
These are increasingly common on farms with remote one way access roads, often neighbours chipping in the cost.
Federated Farmers' partner, MI5 Security (0800 111 309), can advise farmers on system design and its products include both desktop software and smartphone apps.
'Farmprint' was developed by Dunedin based Oritain (03 489 0086), as a countermeasure, "to deter would be criminals and provide evidence in court for prosecution of accused."
Essentially, the footprint of an animal and its unique environment can be recorded and traced using chemical samples derived from the farm they originate from.
Farms which adopt the scheme display signage warning would be poachers that their stock is tagged.
Should a theft arise, the company shall be able to trace the missing animals from samples which match the property from where the poaching occurred.
While Federated Farmers advises farmers to report stock theft or suspicious activity to the Police you can also do it anonymously via Crimestoppers.
Stop Stock, Theft (Google 'Stop Stock Theft') is an online tool providing farmers with an interactive nationwide map of where the latest reported thefts were.
The website is linked to Police and to Crimestoppers NZ acting as an intelligence facilitator with a report sheet for farmers to report the details needed to help with investigations and prosecutions.
All reports and inquiries are held in confidence.
Crimestoppers 0800 555 111
