In my experience, the farmers were a hell of a lot bigger concern than the cattle. We got busted once wandering through a field on a lazy Sunday by the farmer who owned the place. Fortune smiled on us that day though. As it turned out, the farmer's daughter accompanied her father in our pursuit and when they eventually caught up to us we realized we knew each other from school. After some hasty apologies for the trespassing, he frankly told us not to come back but made no effort to force us to ditch the booty. That was a good day.