Cattle headed for Markham missing

MORE than 200 cattle from the Markham farms that were marked for distribution among Wampar, Huon Gulf district farmers, have gone missing.
All the cattle are male which have been castrated.
Sources from the villagers said they were taken away from the farm a week before the official distribution last week.
The cattle were among 4,000 left at the farm.
Wampar villagers, through their various associations, and several other farmers from Sialum in Tewai-Siassi district, had been given the cattle to breed for sale back to the State.
One villager, who requested anonymity, said the 200 cattle were moved to a secret place away from the distribution site at Ganef village.
He also said 12 “prime cattle” were missing on the day of the distribution.
The villager explained that on Easter Sunday, there were still cattle left over from the distribution but the distributors said there was none left.
He alleged that most cattle were distributed amongst the distributors even when they had over- stocked their paddocks.
He said a cow eats one hectare of grass every day and some of the people (named) had given their cattle to smallholder farmers because “they either have no land or have overstocked them”.
He doubted that the breeding agreement entered into with the State would work out well.