Police work with farmers to crack 40-year stretch of cattle theft

Tim and Rose Archer operate Torsdale, a 1300-hectare beef property with about 850 head of Angus and cross-breed cattle.

They claim they have lost more than $100,000 over the past four years alone, mainly through theft of cattle but also signage and even keys stolen from a bore pump.

But Ms Archer said the thieving dated back at least 40 years, when the property was owned by her late grandfather, Bruce Archer.

The latest round of pilfering from the property started when the Archers were forced to temporarily leave Torsdale for family reasons.

"We worked so hard and put in so much effort on this place to get things up and running, and to see this hard work being taken from us is devastating to say the least," Ms Archer said.

"Having people come on to your land and take what is yours, multiple times, really does shake you and have a huge impact on your business both financially and mentally."

Bruce Archer bought Torsdale in the 1950s. He died two years ago and the property was passed down to Ms Archer's mother Annabel Archer, from whom Rose and Tim lease the property.

Torsdale is surrounded by three other properties, so Ms Archer claimed the thief had an extensive knowledge of the property.

"We have had to spend thousands of dollars to secure the property," Ms Archer said.

Even then, cattle agisted on their property have been stolen, signs warning others of theft in the area have been torn down and even signs installed in the local pub have been taken.

Now the Archers have installed security cameras to gather evidence to try nail the thief or thieves.

"We will continue to gather evidence and work with what we have," Ms Archer said.

"This is bigger than just us. This is about putting a stop to thieves feeling entitled to take what is not theirs, to gain from others' hard work, to prey on people's weaknesses when they are going through difficult times.

"This is for the Bundarra community to start making it a place of honesty and trust, this is for my grandfather and the other leasees of Torsdale before us, to say we are not standing by and letting this happen any longer.

"We will fight until it has stopped, and I hope the evidence we continue to gather will be enough to finally put an end to all of the theft and set a precedent going forward."

Police officers have been investigating the latest round or pilfering from the property since January, 2023.

But rural theft is notoriously difficult to gather evidence and prosecute criminals.

"The NSW Police Force is continuously working with farmers to help improve the ways rural industries access the security of their property to reduce the risk of rural crime," a spokesperson said.

"The NSW Police Force offers a range of resources online to assist in security and prevention of theft to cattle and property. This includes ways to report rural crime."

Police advise farmers to use ear marks and tags to identify all livestock and conduct regular audits of cattle.

They appealed to anyone with new information regarding the theft of property from Torsdale to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.