The farm theft epidemic

Some called him a modern-day cattle rustler. Cattle thief is a better description, as it doesn’t romanticize the criminal’s deeds.

Seven times in spring 2010, he drove cattle onto a trailer at an acquaintance’s Searcy County ranch, then took the animals to a local livestock market and sold them. His total haul: 81 cattle valued at tens of thousands of dollars.

It wasn’t easy rolling 800-pound hay bales onto the flatbed trailer, but, working together, the four determined thieves did it 100 times. Each time, they stole one to three round bales from a farmer’s field in Howard County. The hay was then sold to unsuspecting buyers. During 2011, round bales that once sold for $20 were topping $150 in some areas, making the sale of 100 bales a lucrative proposition, indeed.

During a three-week period in fall 2011, two small-time thieves made a big heist from a Lonoke County farm shop, stealing 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel valued at $6,800. Diesel tanks from the farm were loaded on a borrowed truck, driven to Little Rock and sold. The cost of the thefts to the farmer was exponential beyond the cost of the fuel. He had to cease operations for hours waiting for fuel shipments, which slowed his harvest and cost him thousands of dollars.

She was an absentee landowner. Her forested property was in Fulton County. She lived in another state. One day, an unscrupulous logger on an adjoining property crossed her fenced boundary line and cut 30 acres of the lady’s timber. The logs then were loaded and transported elsewhere for sale. The landowner didn’t find out until five years later when she hired a forester to sell her timber. Her loss was valued at more than $30,000. The timber thief was never caught.

In spring 2011, an anonymous tipster told police about an anhydrous-ammonia tank concealed in a rural-area storage shed near Little Rock. Investigating officers found a stolen 1,000-gallon tank filched from a Mississippi County farmer who used the ammonia for fertilizer. Several small, portable tanks also were in the shed. The thief planned to fill these with anhydrous ammonia and sell them to drug dealers who use the chemical when manufacturing illegal methamphetamines.

When she went to sleep that night in summer 2011, her blueberry bushes were loaded with thousands of ripe berries. But when the Benton County farm owner awoke, someone had made off with the fruits of her labor — literally. Berry bandits plucked an estimated 120 gallons of blueberries that night, despite a barbed-wire fence and locked gates. The lady lost approximately $3,000 of fruit that would have been sold for income.

On a moonless night in 2011, the thieves backed up to an irrigation well on the Lee County rice farm. Within seconds, they had disconnected conduit from the switch box, pulled out the valuable copper wire inside and attached it to their truck. They then used the truck to rip away all the wiring inside the tubing and well system. The farm owner discovered the destruction the next day, the third such incident in just a few weeks. “They probably got less than $100 when they sold the copper wire,” he said, “but the damage to my irrigation systems cost thousands to repair, plus much more in down time and damage to my crops.”

The incidents described above are true. Unfortunately, they are but a few of the thousands of thefts plaguing farmers and ranchers throughout Arkansas and the U. S. Theft of farming-related commodities, supplies and equipment has reached epidemic proportions in many areas as criminals steal livestock, crops, vehicles, farm implements, trailers, tools, feed, seed, fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, scrap metal, metal parts, building materials, horse tack and more. The costs of these crimes are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices or are absorbed by farmers in the form of lower profits. And the costs are staggering.

The price we pay

According to underwriting manager Richard Sims, Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Arkansas paid approximately $1.7 million in farm-equipment theft losses in 2011, plus an additional $230,000 for losses on thefts of farm-related vehicles. Were we able to obtain the same type of information from the dozens of other Arkansas insurance companies, no doubt the costs of such losses would total many millions of dollars.

Few agencies keep statistics on farm crimes, but according to the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., agricultural theft cost U. S. farmers $5 billion in 2007. That’s billion with a B, an amount equal to the average annual financial loss from house fires. As many farmers do not report thefts, experts believe the actual farm loss is as much as 10 times greater.

Metal theft crackdown

Despite the magnitude of these crimes, farm theft has received little attention from criminal-justice policymakers. In Arkansas, one exception is metal theft, a problem impacting agricultural operations statewide. Thieves usually target high-priced copper in pipes and wiring, which often are components of farm equipment. Bronze, aluminum and steel also are stolen and sold for a quick buck. Victims include not only farmers but homeowners, contractors, utility companies and many others.

A 2008 FBI report called for tougher laws to combat metal theft, which it referred to as “a threat to public safety and national security.” The following year, Arkansas’ legislature unanimously passed Act 390, which states, in part, “It is unlawful for a person to injure or destroy, steal, or remove any electric power line, gas line, water line, wire or fiber insulators, electric motors or other apparatus connected to farm shops, on-farm grain drying and storage complexes, heating and cooling systems and environmental control systems, animal production facilities, irrigation systems, dwellings or alterations that could result in physical injury.” The act also requires scrap-metal sellers to provide a copy of their driver’s license, a digital thumbprint, a digital photo of themselves and the scrap metal, and a statement indicating the seller has authority to sell the metal. This information is collected and made available to law enforcement in a statewide database.

Act 390 also increased the penalty for sellers accepting stolen copper and other metals, making it a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Theft of utility, telecommunication or essential farm metal became a Class D felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Apparently, having to provide the identifying information law officers can use to catch them has, to some extent, deterred thieves from stealing metal. Officials say metal theft has abated somewhat since the act was passed.

Cattle rustling, timber theft and other crimes

The incidence of other forms of farm theft continues to surge. Take cattle theft, for example. Despite the fact that stealing a cow valued at $200 or more is a Class C felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and a prison term from three to 10 years, incidences of theft have risen dramatically the past two years. High beef prices are driving the increase, but “cattle rustling” appeals to thieves for other reasons as well. Many ranchers don’t brand cattle these days, so it’s often difficult for buyers to differentiate between legitimate and stolen goods. And unlike some items such as electronics, which usually fetch only 25 to 50 percent of their actual value when sold to pawn shops or on the black market, hot cattle usually net 100 percent.

“You may have thought cattle rustling was a thing of the past, a common theme in old western movies,” said Tom Troxel, extension professor of animal science for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “But nothing could be further from the truth.” The unemployment rate has increased in many rural areas, and, “Oftentimes, desperate people do desperate things,” he said.

Timber theft, a crime many people have never even heard of, also continues to be a huge problem. The Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) investigated 79 cases in 2011. These usually involve contract fraud and/or forged timber deeds. In other cases, the timber is cut, removed and sold, but the landowner never receives payment. Thefts often amount to tens of thousands of dollars. AFC timber-theft convictions in 2008 resulted in more than $600,000 in restitutions paid to landowners that lost timber.

Another serious problem is the theft of anhydrous ammonia, which farmers commonly use as a fertilizer. This agrichemical has been safely used for more than a half century by farmers growing corn, soybeans and other crops. But it’s also used in production of illegal methamphetamines, prompting more thefts in recent years. Thieves often remove locks from tanks with bolt cutters and siphon off ammonia. If valves or tanks are damaged in the process, dangerous leaks can develop that threaten humans, livestock and the environment. Clean-up can be extraordinarily expensive.

Fruit, nut and vegetable farmers report more thefts, too, involving everything from tomatoes, peaches and corn to commodities such as pecans, which this year are selling for record prices. As one law-enforcement official said, “If you can eat it, they’re stealing it.”

Several years of a soft economy have led to a rise in all types of farm theft throughout Arkansas. High unemployment, foreclosures and drug abuse have made criminals more desperate, officials say. As a result, thieves steal anything they can quickly load, carry away and sell, everything from batteries, ATVs, bags of seed and tools to chickens, scrap iron, farm-raised fish and even bees. Bolder bandits sometimes steal equipment like combines and tractors.

Farmers and ranchers have been fending off thieves since the heyday of cattle rustling in the nineteenth century, but the duty of battling farm theft now falls to law enforcement. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough enforcement officers and judicial employees to catch, prosecute and incarcerate all the criminals. It falls upon the farmer or rancher then to implement preventive measures that stop farm theft before it happens.

General precautions

Toward that end, here are tips to help you thwart thieves before they cause problems. No security measure works every time, but farmers and ranchers who follow these guidelines are much less likely to deal with thievery than those who don’t.

• Post your property, including signs around the perimeter warning thieves there are alarm systems/guard dogs/ watchful neighbors/a reward program, etc.

• Restrict access by fencing farm/ranch boundaries with the most secure fencing you can afford.

• Secure road entrances with sturdy gates, making sure to keep gates closed and locked except when used.

• Maintain a complete list of all tools, machinery and equipment, including serial/model numbers on items that have them and personal identification numbers you’ve permanently marked on other equipment.

• For insurance and law enforcement purposes, shoot photographs and/ or videotape of all farm inventory, including fences, gates, buildings and other things that could be damaged or stolen by determined thieves.

• Keep work areas well lighted and tidy, so thieves can’t waltz in and steal things without the likelihood of being seen.

• Keep valuables inside behind securely locked doors whenever possible, including agrichemicals, seed, vehicles, farm implements, building materials and harvested commodities. Items that must be left on unsecured areas of the property should be out of sight from roads.

• Use bars to secure high-risk windows.

• Patrol your farm or ranch daily, yearround, and at different times, day and night. If a thief is watching, you want to make it clear you frequently check your property, but not on a set schedule.

• Consider installing video surveillance systems, alarms and devices that can be used to pinpoint the location of stolen goods. With today’s advanced technology, many options are available.

Livestock

• All cattle, hogs, sheep and goats should be properly earmarked or branded for identification as required by Arkansas statutes. Bear in mind, however, ear tags can be removed.

• Maintain complete livestock records with identification numbers. List livestock you buy or sell, and record births and deaths.

• Use strong chains and locks on all gates, access routes and loading ramps.

• If possible, place loading chutes and livestock yards away from roads or access points.

• Make daily head counts of livestock; know if an animal is missing.

Farm equipment

• Remove the key, and lock everything when it’s not in use.

• If machinery must be left in the field, disable it by removing the distributor cap, rotor or battery. Secure separate implements together or around a large tree with heavy chains and casehardened padlocks.

• Batteries are favorite targets of thieves and should have lockable cases over them. Transport wheels should be lowered to prevent easy removal.

• Don’t leave tools or other equipment in a truck bed where they’re easily stolen.

Fuel

• Place lockable caps on fill ports of vehicles, power equipment and supply tanks.

• Pump nozzles should stay properly locked. Control switches on electric pumps should be inside a locked building or house. Turn electricity off when the pump is not in use.

• Place supply tanks where they are visible from the home or work areas, not behind outbuildings or equipment.

• Fill tanks kept on isolated parts of the property only when they’re being used — during planting and harvesting, for example.

• Park gas- or diesel-powered vehicles and machinery in secure, well-lit areas, preferably behind closed, locked doors.

• Monitor fuel purchases and usage daily, so you know if there are unexplained losses.

• Use security fencing around supply tanks.

Timber

• Maintain a current inventory of your timber, so you can prove the extent of losses if theft occurs.

• Mark valuable trees with a painted stripe down one side for identification.

• Clearly mark your property boundaries, so thieves cannot plead ignorance of boundary locations. Clearly mark salearea boundaries, too.

• Visit your property and walk the perimeter often. Frequently visited properties are risky, so thieves are likely to look elsewhere.

• Enlist the aid of adjoining landowners in watching for timber theft. Set up a notification system whereby all parties are informed when trees will be harvested.

• Deal only with reputable timber buyers, using a well-written legal contract that clearly defines all terms of the sale. Samples are available from the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

Hay

• Transport hay from fields to a secure storage location as soon as possible after harvesting.

• Mark large bales with spray paint for identification, which makes them less attractive to thieves.

• Where practical, cut the string on small-bale hay to deter thieves.

Anhydrous ammonia and other agrichemicals

• Do not have tanks delivered to the field. Instead, take tanks to fields when you will use them. Request that chemicals be delivered on days you need them and not before. Promptly return tender tanks back to the supplier.

• Use locking devices on nurse tank valves.

• Check storage tanks and surroundings often. Place brightly colored plastic wire ties or seals between the valve wheel and roll cage to facilitate quick visual checks. If the tie or seal is broken, the tank has been used.

• Place tanks in lighted, secure areas where they can be seen from a residence or work area.

• Post no-trespassing signs, and mark tanks with caution labels to warn of hazards. This could reduce liability should an injury occur during theft.