Strong wool is back in the sights of thieves as police investigate the fleecing of bales in Strath Taieri. Senior Constable Allan Lynch, of Middlemarch, was investigating missing bales of crossbred wool. A farmer reported the bales taken between the night of July 21 and the morning of July 23. An investigation on the number of bales missing was ongoing, Snr Const Lynch said. A truck would have been required to steal the bales. He believed the offender would have known they were there. Shearing had recently finished on the farm before the bales went missing, Snr Const Lynch said. It was the first time Snr Const Lynch had investigated the alleged theft of bales of strong wool since moving to Middlemarch about eight years ago. “Wool has been worth nothing and its value has only recently taken off, hence the reason why people are stealing it.” The bales had the name of the property on them so they might have been repackaged for sale. Any suspicious activity should be reported to police. “If anyone sees a truck with four or five bales on it at 2am, let us know.” The registration details of a vehicle involved in suspicious activity would help an investigation, he said. He had being contacting wool buyers to ask if anyone “dodgy” had been selling them wool. ODT FILESSenior Constable Allan Lynch, of Middlemarch, is investigating missing bales of strong wool. Photo: Guy Williams Taieri Wool & Skin owner Rodney McLennan said he had been buying wool for about 35 years and people had always stolen wool and tried to sell it. He had heard of the missing bales in Middlemarch and another six bales of strong wool stolen from a farm in Palmerston about a month ago. “The thieves are getting excited because the price has gone up.” When wool prices lift so did thefts, he said. “Up until the last four or five months, it hasn’t been worth stealing.” The stolen property was now harder to sell than it once was, he said. “It would be a high risk to go up someone’s drive and take it for very little reward.” Now wool buyers need to make a payment to a bank account, which matches a registered name, to stay on side with Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake. In the past, a wool seller could be paid cash. “They could tell us lies about who they were but now with banks checking account names and numbers, you would be pretty thick if you’re going to put your own name to it.” When sellers could be paid cash, stolen wool was often moved between regions to reduce suspicion and increase a chance of sale. Those days were gone, he said. “It does get very difficult to move wool nowadays, but they still want to keep grabbing it.” A thief could try and on-sell a bale of wool by repackaging it as their own but they would need to know someone inside the industry to do it, which he doubted anyone would do. “It’d be the lowest of the low and you’d just about get kicked out of the community if you ever got caught.” If anyone other than a regular client tried to sell him bales of wool, it raised alarm bells. “If somebody turned up here with six bales of wool and it was a new name, a new account holder, and they really couldn’t tell me where they farmed, we’d probably take the wool — they’re on camera — and we’d notify the police.” Any payment would be held until the seller could be proven to be legit. A bale of good style clean crossbred wool was worth about $1000 a month ago. After a decline in prices it was now worth about $700, he said. “The market’s just trying to find its feet from being at a very low level. “It went up too quick and a bit fast. “Hopefully it’s finding its level now and starts picking up again.” OTAGO IMAGES/OTAGO DAILY TIMESBales at Taieri Wool & Skin in Mosgiel. Photo: Gregor Richardson Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson, of Lawrence, said he had bales of lambs wool stolen about 10 years ago. “It is a dirty, low trick and I’m disappointed to hear it is happening.” Strong wool being targeted by thieves was a sign of a price lift. “It is a new phenomenon and hasn’t been an issue for a while because you’d have to steal a lot of wool to make a return but now it holds some value, it is back on criminals’ radar.” Farmers needed to remain vigilant and secure their properties, as thieves targeted wool, fuel and livestoc “Unfortunately there is the lowest common denominator in society, who see the opportunity and we can’t be naive to that.” He urged farmers to report stolen property to police. “Farmers often shrug and think nothing can be done but police can’t act if they don’t know.” A recent fall in the price of strong wool was a response to the dramatic lift in prices, Mr Patterson said. “I see this as a correction, rather than a fundamental shift.” PGG Wrightson national auction manager Dave Burridge said 69% of the clip offered sold at auction on July 30. “Many overseas buyers are waiting for prices to stabilise before re-entering the market.” Although the market had eased considerably, the underlying fundamentals of reduced wool supply remains unchanged, Mr Burridge said. As pre-lamb shearing volumes began to ease, tighter supply was expected to support the market, ‘‘although price volatility is likely to continue’’.
