RISING wool prices and the alleged theft of wool bales worth more than $14,000 in Victoria have prompted a police warning for farmers to be vigilant.
Central Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit detectives have charged a man after wool bales worth more than $14,000 were allegedly stolen in Bears Lagoon last month.
It is alleged 12 bales of wool were stolen from Lagoona Road between April 22-24. A 25-year-old Daylesford man has been charged with burglary and theft. He will appear at the Maryborough Magistrates’ Court on June 28.
Following the alleged theft, Victoria Police have released a Youtube video with First Constable Brendan McManus advising farmers to look out for each other and note any suspicious people and vehicles.
Wool bales with brands blacked out. Source – Victoria Police.
He said the latest incident was reported to police at Pyramid Hill and two bales were recovered. The bales were taken from a property and sold to a wool broker after their identifying brands and numbers were covered with black dye.
First Constable McManus said police are finding that a lot of the thefts in the area are from unlocked sheds and vehicles. He said farmers could also perhaps take photographs of serial numbers and install CCTV cameras.
Source: Victoria Police.
We had a bale of wool stolen on the night of the day we finished shearing last year. We were told by our wool broker’s insurance loss assessor that unless the wool room was locked, ‘sheep’s back to wool store’ insurance did not cover the loss. We were lucky that, as a ‘once-off,’ our wool broker would cover our loss, out of their sale commission. But in future, it is our responsibility to ensure the wool shed is locked each night. Best of luck with that for some wool sheds. And obviously the culprits could read and write, because they stole AAAM and not LKS or STN.