Agricultural producers have attacked the WA Government's new legislation to crack down on farm trespassers, questioning why the laws also give vast new powers to animal welfare inspectors.

Key points: Under the new bill trespassers could face two years' jail or a $24,000 fine

Under the new bill trespassers could face two years' jail or a $24,000 fine Animal welfare inspectors will be able to enter farms without a warrant

Animal welfare inspectors will be able to enter farms without a warrant The farm lobby has condemned the bill as going too far

More than 12 months after the McGowan Government first vowed to bring in tougher penalties for animal welfare activists who illegally enter farm properties, details of those plans have been revealed.

Under the new bill, people who trespass onto abattoirs, knackeries or other agricultural production properties would face up to two years in jail or a $24,000 fine.

That bill, which has been released for public comment, follows several incidents of campaigners trespassing in an attempt to gather evidence of animal mistreatment.

Animal rights activists James Warden and Arkadiusz Swiebodzinski appeared in the Perth Magistrates' Court in February after being charged with trespass. ( ABC News: Jon Sambell )

The Government's proposal would also boost the powers of animal welfare inspectors to enter properties without a warrant or prior consent.

"The public has got a really red hot interest in making sure these animals in these confinements are treated humanely," Attorney-General John Quigley said.

Mr Quigley said there was a need to "strike a balance" between protecting agricultural producers while also ensuring there was sufficient oversight of the sector, citing evidence aired on the ABC's 7.30 program of mistreatment of horses at an eastern states abattoir.

"Most Western Australians would consider themselves animal lovers and do not want to see animals being mistreated," he said.

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Inspectors give 'greater powers than police'

Agricultural lobby group the Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) said the proposed powers for animal welfare inspectors went too far, warning the proposals would significantly disrupt producers.

"These people have a right of entry at any time and without a warrant," PGA president Tony Seabrook said.

PGA president Tony Seabrook opposes the new powers for animal welfare inspectors.

"That is a greater power than the police have and they are nowhere near as qualified as police might be."

WA Nationals leader Mia Davies said the Government had confused two issues by adding welfare inspector changes to a farm trespassing bill.

"They have taken a relatively straightforward task and made it overly complicated," she said.

"I think they have let down the sector that has desperately been crying out for protections from this Government."

The Government's pledge to introduce farm trespass laws followed a string of high-profile cases, including two people who livestreamed footage from inside a piggery in WA's south alleging it showed animal cruelty.

Activist James Warden allegedly entered a West Australian piggery to film conditions inside. ( Source: Facebook/Direct Action Everywhere )

Last month, two animal activists were spared jail time after stealing a calf from a South West farm.