Take steps to secure grain, warns canola theft victim

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Published: February 10, 2011

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Loose lips sink ships.

Todd Heroux is hoping they will also help solve a crime that cost him nearly $60,000.

Heroux, who farms near Wakaw, Sask., is looking for the thieves who stole 5,000 bushels of Nexera canola last summer from his family’s farm at the north end of Wakaw Lake.

A neighbour who lives nearby told Heroux she saw two beige colored semis loading grain at the bin site at around 6 a.m. in late July.

The eyewitness thought Heroux was getting an early jump on his day’s work and paid little notice.

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In reality, what she witnessed was an early-morning theft that shocked the Heroux family when it was discovered later that summer.

After loading the canola, the trucks travelled south toward Highway 41.

“It felt horrible. It was devastating,” said Heroux, who farms with his brother, Elwood, and his parents, Wally and Helen.

“Your heart almost stops when you think about how hard you’ve worked to produce that grain … and then when you show up to load it, it’s gone. Someone else reaped the benefits of all our hard work.”

Heroux reported the crime to RCMP in Wakaw, but officers have had little success cracking the case.

The thieves took most of their haul from a 4,400 bushel hopper bin but left the hopper cone full.

With the cone still full, the owner would not suspect anything if he happened to walk by the bin and bang it with his hand.

Heroux didn’t realize his crop had been stolen until he climbed the ladder to open the hatch on top of the bin.

The thieves topped up their loads from two flat bottomed bins, drawing as much canola as the auger would take without shoveling.

Because the crime occurred more than six months ago, Heroux knows the thieves may never be identified.

However, he’s still gathering clues and hopes that going public with his story will produce new leads.

“Someone knows what happened.… There’s always more than one person that knows something.”

He also encourages other farmers to take simple precautions and avoid a similar fate.

Grain confetti is a good deterrent.

The confetti can be mixed with grain as it’s loaded into a bin. A handful thrown inside the door provides an extra deterrent.

Heroux has used confetti in the past but neglected to add it when the canola was combined in the late and frustrating harvest of 2009.

He also said farmers should think about padlocking all their bins and insuring grain against theft.

“Insurance is unbelievably inexpensive,” he said.

“For $300 we could have had all of this insured and if we had known that, I mean that’s a no-brainer in doing business … In the future, insurance, confetti, bins locked every time, no questions asked.”

The Herouxs are offering a reward for information that helps solve the crime.

They have also requested that the RCMP publicize the theft on Crime Stoppers. So far, that hasn’t happened.

Heroux said his research found that grain thefts are rare in Western Canada, but when they do occur they often happen when the owners of the grain are absent or away on holidays.

This might indicate that the thieves know the owners or are aware of their whereabouts.

Heroux said his loss was particularly disheartening because his father had been in poor health last summer and was unable to make his regular trips to the farm.

Heroux, his brother and his parents all live in Saskatoon, about an hour’s drive away. No one lives at the farm site.

“It’s very disappointing,” he said.

“I’d like to think that the image of western Canadian farmers is one of good, decent people who are feeding the world, not people who are out there trying to rip each other off.”

Heroux said his canola was contracted with Cargill at around $11 a bushel.

They paid a monetary penalty for failing to meet the terms of their production contract.

About the author

Brian Cross

Brian Cross

Saskatoon newsroom

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