Pregnant wagyu cows and calves worth $200,000 stolen from station

Pregnant cows and calves are among 142 wagyu cross cattle believed to have been stolen from a central Queensland station.Greenlake Station manager Madeline Price said she noticed the cattle were missing during the second round of weaning, when young cattle are separated from their mothers."We ran the cows through at weaning and we got an accurate count on the 3rd of April," she said."We ran them through again on the 28th of May … after counting, double counting and triple counting and thinking we must be wrong. We weren't."That's when we realised that they were missing."The stolen cattle are valued at more than $200,000. (Supplied: Madeline Price)Valued at more than $200,000, the group included 97 cows and 45 weaner heifers, which are female cattle less than a year old.Ms Price said among them were pregnant cows from the station's main breeding stock that were close to giving birth."It does make you feel pretty sick to ring your dad who's given you this amazing opportunity and tell him you're down 142 head of cattle," she said."It does make you lay in bed and think, 'What could I have done differently?'"The Price Cattle Company runs 3,000 head across a 7,500-hectare operation about 50 kilometres north of Rockhampton.Ms Price said it had taken some time to realise the cattle were stolen because of the size of the herd and property."It's like throwing 1000 grains of rice on your kitchen floor and saying which [group] has 900, which one has 1000?" she said.The theft comes during a strong cattle market, where cows and weaner heifers have sold for as much as $2,000 a head, depending on weight and quality.Stock squad detectives investigating the theft said anyone who saw unusual stock movements in the Todds Road and Rossmoya Road areas of Greeenlake during April or May should contact them."The cattle … were branded with a GL under half-circle symbol, a yellow management tag 'Greenlake' and NLIS devices," a spokesperson said in a statement.AgForce Queensland, the state's peak producer body, also urged anyone with information on the matter to contact police."Stock theft can be difficult to detect and prosecute, and producers tell us it is more widespread than reported figures suggest," they said in a statement."Beyond the financial loss, stock affects producers' wellbeing and their sense of security on their own properties."Madeline Price still has a couple of thousand cattle needing her care. (ABC Capricornia: Jessica D'Souza)Ms Price said her focus was now on getting the remainder of the herd through winter."I guess you can't just sit under your desk rocking back and forth thinking about it," she said."There's thousands of other cattle on this place that day in, day out, that need you to keep up to them."