Calves go missing from Gooloogong dairy

An Ayrshire heifer and steer, along with Holstein and Speckle Park steers were some of the eight calves taken from a dairy operation between Friday night and Saturday morning, before the morning milking at the property of about 400 cows.

"We went to get the cows in at four o'clock for milking, and around half past five we went to head off and start feeding the calves," dairy farmer Ellen Zell, said.

"I went to the yard and thought, 'there are supposed to be twelve calves in here and there are only four.'"

Zell and her partner finished the milking while the sun came up, hoping the eight calves would turn up in their own time, but discovered a neatly cut hole in a fence instead.

"My daughter works on the farm, and one of her key roles is calf-rearing," she said. "It's a real kick in the guts for a 17-year-old to have all her hard work to be cut through a fence."

Ms Zell said the bull calves would only be worth about $150, but the mix of highly sought-after dairy cows could fetch up to $3,000 a head.

"This is our livelihood, the heifers are replacing our stock, it's so brazen," she said. "They had no fear of being caught, if we had been down there and confronted them, what would have happened?"

State police Rural Crime Coordinator, Detective Chief Inspector Cameron Whiteside said the incident was one of many which have "incurred a financial loss of at least $930,000" on NSW farms this year.

"With the creation of the Rural Crime Prevention Team in early 2018, the confidence of farmers is slowly increasing, and this encourages victims of rural crime to report theft to police," he said.

When farmers like Ms Zell discover their livestock have been stolen, Whiteside said it was crucial to reach out with whatever information they have on hand.

"We need to work with farmers to target rural crime offenders. If the crime is not reported, we can't help the victim," he said.

"We understand [a] farmer may not know the quantity of fuel stolen, when the livestock was taken or how the machinery was removed, but we still need the crime reported ... There may be other incidents occurring in the area that they are not aware of that we do know about."

Ellen Zell's neighbours may have footage of the rustlers travelling along the road between Cowra and Eugowra, or through the centre of Gooloogong village.

"If we can get it out there and get these people caught, maybe it will stop them doing it to other people," she said.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Police Assistance Line on 131 444