Rural awakening: Security risks on the farm

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/04/2022 (1443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With rising commodity prices comes a new wave of concern over agricultural theft, at a time when producers and rural residents are under new pressures on their wallets.

The possibility of theft is on farmers’ minds and is a concern heading into spring seeding, said Keystone Agricultural Producers president Bill Campbell. There were two incidents reported to police over the last six months in Westman.

“Certainly this year we have seen through the winter with the rise of commodity prices and fuel inputs and those things that this has become more of a concern or a situation that is happening,” he said.

“We understand certain parts of the farming community where we do not have the same rural population anymore to be able to be monitoring … so it is a concern.”

In March, Rivers-area farmer Les Wedderburn reported he had approximately $40,000 worth of canola stolen from a bin on his property. He believes his crop was stolen while he was in the process of rotating the grain over the winter.

Wedderburn reported it to police, but the crimes are difficult to solve as “investigational avenues are very limited,” according to a statement from Rivers Police Service Chief Lon Schwartz.

“As the theft occurred in an isolated, rural area, there are no known witnesses to the event. [Neighbourhood] inquiries have been made by police, but no evidence has been gleaned from this. Given the absence of witnesses, CCTV systems, forensic evidence and/or witnesses, this matter is quite challenging.”

That followed a cattle theft near Gladstone in October 2021, where farmer Chris Moore reported to the RCMP he had 25 cows and 24 calves stolen from him in the Rural Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone.

The cattle rustling is still under investigation by the Manitoba RCMP, spokesperson Cpl. Julie Courchaine said on Wednesday, and no charges have been laid.

In November, RCMP in neighbouring Saskatchewan warned farmers about the possibility of farm equipment theft following seeding and harvest.

With rising prices for fuel and other inputs, Campbell said there is concern people will resort to stealing those increasingly valuable resources.

“It brings about the awareness that producers need to be monitoring and looking out for one another and utilizing the measures that are out there to ensure safe storage and protection of their own property.”

There are steps producers can take to ward off thieves and protect themselves, including installing cameras around bins and mixing in coded confetti with grain.

Near Isabella, producer Kendall Heise said agricultural theft is also a concern as commodities are worth lots of money. He said he has a plot of land near Crandall, and one of his neighbours had grain stolen as well.

“We have a lot of money invested and we’ve just relied on being too far away for people to bother to steal stuff, but now the value is just so high that the incentive for disreputable people to come and grab it is a lot higher.”

Heise plans to install security cameras near bins and beef up security. It’s not a perfect solution for all farmers, though, as some bins are remote and lack electricity hookups or cellphone service.

“I’ve talked to numerous people thinking the same way, I guess the word will get out to the people swiping this that it’s going to get more difficult for them,” he said, adding he believes it’s a small, organized group of people stealing grain.

Virden RCMP Sgt. Scott Fefchak echoed Campbell. His detachment hasn’t received reports of crop or fuel theft recently, but it does happen in rural Manitoba. In one instance near Killarney, a thief was cutting the locks off of grain bins and replacing them with an identical lock to make it look like nothing had happened.

“A lot of [producers] put [the grain] in their bins … and just kind of forget it,” he said. Sometimes farmers don’t know anything is amiss for months at a time.

But just like Schwartz, Fefchak said it is difficult to investigate these types of rural thefts. In some cases, thieves could take stolen grain to an elevator a few hours away to sell it.

With fuel prices at all-time highs — averaging $1.74 per litre in Brandon and $1.72 in Virden — Fefchak said he is concerned people will make fuel their next target.

“The best thing you can do is lock your tanks. I would encourage people [to have] trail cams, so at least have a starting point.”

Rural residents should also look out for their neighbours and take note of any suspicious vehicles.

“Just be mindful of who’s around the area … just something that gets your ‘spidey sense’ tingling,” he said.

One measure producers can take to help protect themselves is coded grain confetti. The small pieces of paper mixed in with grain have numbers on them, which can be tied back to a specific owner.

This season has so far seen a significant jump in the use of grain confetti, said Valerie Schellenberg at Country Graphics and Printing, in Rosenort, Man. The business sells a product called Cropgard, which is printed on newsprint paper.

“Last fall we couldn’t keep up with producing it actually. This year we’ve got the jump in anticipation that it might be highly requested. When farmers want it, they want it within a couple of days, not a month down the road.”

Over the last five years, the business has sold an average of 30 to 40 grain confetti codes annually.

But last year, it sold 160 codes and this spring Schellenberg is preparing for more than 200.

“I wasn’t really prepared for it, but we got it produced and out in a timely fashion,” she said, adding some provincial campgrounds also spread the confetti in their stock of firewood.

Producers can also put Cropgard decals on the outside of bins, which warns thieves on sight.

The concern over theft of pricey products isn’t just limited to rural areas.

Jessica McNish, who lives in Brandon, said she believes thieves siphoned gas from her vehicle overnight in March. She noticed something was wrong when she saw her gas cap hanging out of the vehicle in the morning.

“It was just hanging out beside it, and I’m like, ‘Wait, what the heck?’” she said.

The thieves made off with approximately a quarter of a tank of gas, which was worth approximately $30, she said.

“I got lucky, I won’t say it’s the worst situation in the world because they did only get a little bit, but when it comes down to it, even if they were stealing a little bit every day, it adds up.”

McNish said she was “annoyed” and plans to get a locking gas gap, which thieves hopefully won’t be able to open.

Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said the police service has seen incidents where people drive away without paying for gas, but no gas siphoning has been reported.

With the price of gas expected to rise again after the April 1 carbon tax hike, Campbell said it could further drive the risk of theft for producers.

“As you have more valuable assets, the risk for theft increases, and as we place more pressure on society then there are those that take advantage of that situation,” he said.

“I think we just need to realize that as inflation increases and people try to get by with whatever means, they may have some of them turn to illegal activities, and so that is a concern as the cost of everything goes up.”

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_