A Taieri dairy farmer has "had it up to the eyeballs" after thousands of dollars worth of diesel was drained from his farm tank in several thefts over the past six weeks.
Paul Rogers said it had become such an issue, he was now taking extreme measures to make sure no more was stolen.
He said the culprits were breaking down his farm gate, entering his farm yard, cutting the padlock to his 2000-litre gravity-fed diesel tank and helping themselves to the contents.
"The first couple of times, they drained the tank. There was about 1500 litres disappeared the first time and about 2000 litres the second time."
Taking that much fuel would require a large fuel trailer or a tank on the back of a ute - something that should be easy to spot.
The most recent theft was last weekend, when about 40 litres was taken, he said.
"I’m starting to get a bit sick of it really. It’s a financial cost. Contrary to popular belief, money doesn’t grow on trees."
He said it was important to have a good supply of diesel at this time of year because it powered farming equipment which was essential for feeding his stock.
It could take up to a week for a fuel tanker to arrive to refill the tank, which was problematic if his farm machinery was already low on fuel.
"At this time of year, I need my tractor for feeding out."
In a bid to stop the thefts, he had installed more flood lights, some cameras and a new device which he hoped would help him catch the offender(s), Mr Rogers said.
"The device sits in the breather of the fuel tank, and when fuel is taken out, it detects the displacement air coming through the breather pipe and sends a message to my mobile phone.
"Now I’ll know as soon as someone starts taking fuel out, and I’ll be able to go round and say hi to the person."
Police are investigating the thefts.
