A brassy canola theft north of Tuxford, Sask., has taken a toll on a Marquis-area farmer’s belief in human decency.
“Your faith in people is sort of shaken. This type of theft … it’s not like losing luxury items or other things like that. There’s more to it, they’re stealing from your livelihood,” said Doug Froehlich.
About 1,200 bushels of canola were stolen, worth an estimated $16,000.
“As commodity prices increase, this sort of parasitic element in society will surface … when people smell money or whatever, that sort of thing seems to come out,” said Froehlich.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Although his farm is near Marquis, Sask., the theft occurred at a bin on land he farms slightly north of Tuxford.
Froehlich noticed the grain was missing about a week ago, but thinks that the theft probably occurred in mid-January.
He had last checked the bins in early December.
Const. Dan Melnyk with the Moose Jaw RCMP has no suspects, but he has an idea of the type of person they’re looking for.
“This is a person that obviously has some background in the grain world and has some equipment.
“Whether they’re a farm grower themselves or just a guy that has access to farm equipment, I don’t know.”
A semi-truck would have been needed to transport the grain, and thieves also would have had to supply their own auger.
Melnyk said grain thefts are not rare on the Prairies and often occur after contractual disagreements over land rentals or family disputes, although he doesn’t believe that to be the case in this instance.
“To have an unknown (thief) I would believe would be not unusual because of the fact that some of these aren’t reported to the police.”
Melnyk said many smaller thefts are not reported because farmers sometimes aren’t sure whether anything has been stolen from a grain pile or a bin.
Like the police, Froehlich is mystified as to the identity of the thieves.
“I would let them them know how disgusted I am and that they’re on the bottom echelon of criminal acts. It’s just repulsive, to me it’s just pathetic, especially when individuals have the equipment and the knowledge and the ability to work, but they’re not man enough to do an honest day’s work for an honest wage.”
