Farmers Battle Theft

June 13, 2008
High Plains Journal

OMAHA (DTN) -- The wide-open spaces of rural America attract a wide variety of people: Beside the usual suspects -- nature lovers, small-town aficionados -- there are also the thieves. Scan the internet and you'll find article after article about livestock, crops, diesel, copper wiring and machinery taken from farms from the Carolinas to California.

Theft has always occurred in rural areas, but as prices increase for diesel, commodities and farm equipment, so does the allure of turning these assets into quick cash.

"We receive calls nearly every day from farmers telling us about what they (thieves) had stolen," said Danielle Rau, director of rural crime prevention for the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF).

While many rural thefts are not reported, Rau has enough data from the Central Valley Rural Crimes Task Force, an eight-county region of rural counties in central California, to show that farm thefts cost California farmers in those counties $14 million to $16 million annually. And this is just eight counties in one state.

"The lure of quick cash from the black market after the sale of these items is the reason for most of these crimes," Rau said.

Sheriff Thomas Thompson of Mercer County, Ill., knows first hand that this quick cash is usually used to pay for illegal drugs. In his area of west-central Illinois, the drug of choice is usually meth.

Last month thieves siphoned 100 gallons of diesel fuel (selling for about $4.38 a gallon in May) from a semi truck in New Windsor, located in eastern Mercer County. The truck was parked overnight at the co-op in the town of 720 people.

"Criminals will take the easiest path and stealing stuff from farmers is very easy because they are (in) rural areas where there are considerably less eyes," Thompson said.

Both Rau and Thompson recommend farmers protect themselves against theft by making their farms a trickier target for criminals. Locking fuel barrels, buildings and farm equipment offer some measure of protection. Adding lighting and limiting access to the farm by putting up gates -- and locking them -- also help.

Farmers should store farm equipment in a locked building, Thompson said, but if this is not possible, especially during spring planting and harvest, tractors and combines should be locked and parked away from high traffic areas. Locks on structures that store fuel are the best defense against theft, but crooks can always use bolt cutters on the locks if they really want the fuel.

"I know others in law enforcement suggest that farmers shut the power off at the breaker box on fuel tanks with the electric pump so if they do bust off the lock, they can't pump any fuel anyway," Thompson said.

Setting fuel barrels under a light is also a good practice. Dawn-to-dusk lights, for example, make it more difficult for thieves to operate under the cover of darkness, he said.

Some farmers, especially in the high-value cropping areas of California, are hiring security firms to patrol their farms and fields, Rau said. And many farmers across the nation are installing sophisticated surveillance equipment, said Greg Drea, who operates Video Surveillance Solution in Oto, Iowa, about 30 miles southeast of Sioux City.

"About half of my customers are in the agriculture field," Drea said. "They are installing various types of camera systems to keep a close eye on their business."

Camera systems can be as simple or complex as the customer wants. The price range of the equipment Drea sells is from about $2,000 to $10,000. In addition to cameras, he also sells recording devices that can tape whatever a camera picks up on a DVR. A typical four-camera system will sell for $2,000 to $3,000, depending on the equipment, he said.

The DVR can be set to record only when there is movement in certain areas of the screen, Drea said. "This would come in handy when aiming the camera at fuel barrels or doorways of buildings.

"Nothing will be recorded until there is movement in those pixels, and you can set what pixels you want it to begin to record so you don't record a cat wondering through the farm place or something like that," he said.

Tim Seubert, owner of S&S Equipment, Inc. in Lawton, Iowa, can attest to the system's effectiveness. After losing hand and power tools, gas siphoned from vehicles and cash from the register, all worth $4,000 to $5,000, he decided to invest in some cameras to monitor his business. Drea installed two cameras on the outside of his building and three days later, they caught the thief.

"These systems are well worth the money," Seubert said. "In fact, later this year I am having Greg (Drea) install five more cameras."

Since the cameras were installed, he hasn't had any more problems with theft. One man did break into the business, but once the would-be thief saw he was on the monitor on Seubert's desk, he hightailed it out of the building.

"We all guess that he had to go home and get some new drawers," Seubert laughed.

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