Call it a sign of the times.
Farm equipment thefts have been drawing so much attention of late that Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers has begun including reports of missing equipment in the weekly updates that it e-mails and faxes to members.
“If something is stolen, we’re going to put it into our weekly alert,” said KAP vice-president Robert Mclean.
The measure could have helped Dauphin, Man., area farmer Chris Dzisiak. Last fall he took his 1983 John Deere 8850 with 8,900 hours on it in for servicing at a local farm equipment dealership.
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The four-wheel drive tractor, which was worth approximately $50,000, disappeared from the dealer’s lot and has not been recovered, despite a police investigation that began Oct. 27.
“It was in premium condition, with new tires. Lots of work had been done on it over the years. It was parked next to another 8850 with a lot less hours on it,” said Dzisiak, who farms 2,000 acres northeast of Dauphin.
“So it was obvious that it was taken by someone who knew what was going on.”
He called police, who put out a Crime Stoppers bulletin on Nov. 3.
“They think that it was probably driven out of the lot late in the afternoon. A tractor leaving a dealership lot at that time of day would excite no one,” he said, adding the mechanics likely had their hands full with work and the salespeople were in their offices handling last minute details before quitting time.
The tractor cab was full of hi-tech electronics worth about $20,000, including automated steering and depth control, radio equipment and air seeder monitoring devices.
Dzisiak speculated that once outside of town, the tractor was loaded onto a flatbed trailer and hauled away during the day because thieves would be unlikely to seek a wide load permit for night travel.
Since then, an insurance settlement has covered the cost of a replacement, but Dzisiak said he would prefer to have his old tractor back.
An RCMP spokesperson said the Dauphin detachment is still investigating Dzisiak’s stolen tractor.
Other high profile cases have also gone unsolved, including three separate thefts of $300,000 worth of sheep from St. Claude farmer Norman Goulet.
To prevent further losses, Goulet said he would have to spend another summer sleeping in a camper in the pasture to watch his flock.
John Schmeiser, executive vice-president of the Canada West Equipment Dealers Association, said tractor thefts have been reported at consistent levels for the past three to four years.
“Smaller tractors and skid steer loaders have always been a theft problem,” he said. “I think it’s because they are easy to move and probably there is a local black market for them, and there may be overseas opportunities.”
Insurers suspect that the compact tractors are packed into shipping containers and sent to countries such as China where demand is great and import inspections are lax, he added.
The association is working on standardizing serial number plates, which are usually riveted on and can be altered.
Most rural dealerships have no security devices or fences around their lots, Schmeiser said, mainly because theft of farm equipment is rare and the cost of such measures is high.
To fight theft, the dealer association includes a theft reporting section on its website that is updated weekly, and is promoting the use of an anti-theft GPS tracking device sold by Longview Advantage of Calgary.
The owner can monitor the location of his property through the company’s website, or set up a “virtual fence” to ensure it doesn’t go missing.
If a piece of equipment is moved outside of the preset location, the $750 wireless vShepherd unit contacts the owner to see if the movement is authorized. If not, it immediately contacts police and assists them in tracking down the stolen item.
Recovery is often possible within an hour, said Longview president Bill Quinney.
“The hottest market is out in the Fraser Valley, (of British Columbia) where most thefts take place,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that there’s a theft every week out there, but it’s the next thing to it.”
Sgt. Brad Kaeding at the Regina headquarters of the Saskatchewan RCMP said that apart from cattle, no specific records are kept of agriculture-related thefts in the province.
“We don’t keep thefts of farm machinery separate from cars or trucks or thefts of grain separate from the theft of your wallet from your car.”
Like any other vehicle theft, police add the serial number for the missing equipment to the national computer system.
“However, there are not a lot of occasions when somebody would have reason to query the serial number of a tractor, unless it’s in suspicious circumstances,” he said.
“If somebody notices that Bob down the road suddenly has a new tractor and he doesn’t really have a good explanation for how he got it, then there may be an investigation.
“However, people need to put two and two together. Much like anything, we depend on people to provide tips and information.”
Kaeding said that in late April, there was a report of a bull and 14 cows stolen near Weldon, Sask. Also, near Borden recently, a cow was shot in a field and the hindquarters removed.
Many reports of cattle rustling stem from a misunderstanding between two parties, or later the cows turn up in a corner of the pasture, he added.
