Stealing Steer
By Susan Tart

Cattle theft is on the rise across America. Authorities aren’t exactly sure why, although some say it's because of rising beef prices. Unlike stealing a TV, stealing a cow requires little more than getting past a thin wire, and thieves can receive almost one thousand dollars per cow.

Bob Nutter is the owner of Maple View Ice Cream and Farms. He has several hundred cows, but says cattle theft isn’t a problem in North Carolina.

“Sometimes you hear about cattle being stolen and so forth, but I think that’s mostly out West in Texas, which is open range and that sort of thing,” said Nutter.

North Carolina isn’t a big beef producer, and like Nutter, many farmers have dairy cows. So unless diary prices go up, cow theft probably won’t become a big problem in North Carolina.