Stricter penalties are needed to help deter thieves from attacking farms across the island.

In addition to the high costs of fertilizers, feed, droughts and heavy rainfall, praedial larceny is one of the biggest issues facing Jamaican farmers.

Praedial larceny is the theft of agricultural produce including crops and livestock.

Speaking on MoneyMovesJA with Kalilah Reynolds, CEO of McKay Security Jason McKay, the issue is one that the Government must take seriously as it can lead to vigilante justice.

“I’m not sure the sentencing for praedial larceny is high enough,” he said.

According to Jamaica’s Praedial Larceny Act, anyone found in breach of the law can be fined up to a maximum of $20,000.

“If it’s [praedial larceny] treated with a slap on the wrists the farmers are gonna do a lot more than a slap on the wrists themselves,” he said.

“I think its something the Government has to really take seriously not just for the fact that it destroys something that someone else has worked for but when farmers decide to take matters into their own hands, I’ve seen it get really bad,” he added.

He noted that there have been instances in the past where innocent people have been killed due to being mistakenly identified as a farm thief.

The CEO who has been in the security business for over 30 years, said that these criminal activities tend to mostly affect small farmers who cannot afford high levels of security.

“Even though we say ‘small’, we’re still talking about acres and acres of land,” he noted.

“Most small farms can’t afford to go to a security company and hire guards. It has to be a pretty large business to do that,” he said.

McKay said that budgeting for the cost of security is one of the first recommendations he would give new or prospective farmers. He noted, however, that securing acres of land can be very expensive and the method of security will differ based on the crop.

“Agriculture is very diverse; how you secure a coffee plantation is totally different from how you secure livestock or cash crops,” he said.

He noted that some crops are easier for criminals to target and require increased protection. He said that in these cases he recommends having physical security among the crops.

“To secure cash crops like oranges or coffee, which is hardly ever fenced, you actually have to put the security into the fields, he said.

McKay recommended that farmers who may not have the resources to support large-scale security, start off with crops or livestock that are not easy targets for thieves.