The price of almonds and walnuts has risen so sharply that people are stealing them.
The Associated Press says California nut growers have lost $1.5 million in nuts this year:
Almonds sell for about $3 a pound wholesale and twice that much in
stores. The nuts are worth so much that thieves who drive away whole
truckloads have been known to abandon the vehicles and keep just the
almonds.
Almond prices jumped 70 cents a pound this summer, walnuts
sell for three bucks a pound, and you pay twice that at the store.
Farm Thefts
Nut nappers are just the beginning of the story. In an article I pointed to a couple of weeks ago,
The Christian Science Monitor
notes that farm thefts nationwide are rising for a lot of reasons. Cattle and timber prices are high, farm chemicals are valuable, and
thieves know that farms are notorious for how easy they are to steal
from unnoticed.
The Monitor says:
The losses from farm thefts in California, Mississippi and South
Carolina run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to
estimates from law enforcement officers. But since only one of 10 farm
crimes is reported, some say total annual losses are about $1 billion
nationwide.
See the recent examples of farm thefts around the country:
There is a fair amount that farmers can do to fight back, according to the California Highway Patrol:
Mark It!
- Mark your equipment, metal pipe and moveable property.
- Use an identification system approved by law enforcement. [...]
- Put number in two spots: hidden and obvious.
- For machinery with cabs, paint the last six digits of the Product Identification Number (PIN) on the roof.
Record It!
- Keep records. Record serial number and number you applied. Take color photos.
Protect It!
- Re-key your equipment -- most construction equipment is commonly keyed.
- Don't leave equipment in remote areas. Disable and park camp-wagon style, heel to toe, in a circle.
- Inventory equipment frequently, and park it so it is obvious if something is missing.
- Paint your equipment a distinctive color, and include your name or logo.
- Install anti-theft devices: fuel cutoffs, hydraulic bypasses, track locks or alarms. Contact equipment dealers for specific anti-theft devices developed for their products.
- Challenge strangers on your property or job sites. Show them you are on the alert.
Fall is prime season for thefts of anhydrous ammonia, a key ingredient used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. As I reported in Al's Morning Meeting last month,
some states are recommending that farmers add calcium nitrate to their
anhydrous tanks, which would make the fertilizer useless to meth
producers. Has your state done this yet?
The Monitor explains why farmers are easy targets:
These days it's relatively easy to steal commodities without getting
caught, Mr. [Bill] Yoshimoto, [the supervising attorney for a rural crimes
task force in Tulare County, California,] says. For one, farms are
bumping up against suburbs, shortening the time it takes potential
crooks to get their hands on freestanding tanks of diesel, barrels of
expensive fungicides, and rolls of copper wire.
Oftentimes, thieves can operate in plain view since the heavy equipment
and tractor-trailers they use to carry out their crimes are common in
these parts. Internet trading has also cut down on paperwork, making
scofflaws tougher to track down.
The story continues:
In Alabama, where pine forests cover an area nearly equivalent to
all of New England, timber losses can be staggering, Mr. Yoshimoto says.
Last year, Texas investigators recovered more than 5,000 stolen cattle
worth more than $3.5 million. [...]
"You've got crews coming in and knocking down 10 acres of
timber or 40 acres of prime plums, and then you have some on the other
end receiving this timber and fruit and injecting it into the
commercial stream somewhere," says Yoshimoto. "This level of
sophistication has only become prominent in the last 10 years, and
we've noticed it tremendously in the last five years."
The story says that in the past, farm thefts have not gotten
much attention because police are worried about worse crimes. But
technology brings new crime-battling solutions:
Some farmers are working on ways to brand individual vegetables such as artichokes to thwart theft.
I am seeing lots of copper-theft stories, like these from Minnesota, Hawaii and Michigan.
Bin Bandits
The California Farm Bureau Federation also reports another big-dollar, agriculture-theft racket -- fruit-bin thefts:
Bin theft has cost Fresno County fruit packer Mark Woods about
$190,000 this year. San Diego County grower/packer Al Stehly puts his
figure at more like $500,000. And experts say these losses represent
just the tip of this illicit activity's iceberg.
Bin bandits -- or renegade harvesters, as many frustrated growers and
packers call them -- are affecting agriculture throughout the state.
Many packers allege that renegade harvesters are stealing the
plastic bins used to haul harvested fruit and vegetables to the
packinghouses. The problem is not just one or two missing bins but
thousands of bins, resulting in what packers say could amount to
several hundred thousand dollars in losses for each packer affected.
"Growers are getting tired of it. Packers are getting tired of it,"
said Stehly, a Valley Center citrus and avocado grower and packer. "You've got renegade citrus and avocado harvesters out there that don't
own their own bins and just use whoever's they can find. They call it
borrowing. We call it theft.
"Our county sheriff's office and district attorney feel that some of
the stolen bins are being used for avocado thefts," Stehly said. "Not
only is this an issue for the packinghouses losing capital items, it is
an issue for growers who might be losing fruit."
High-tech Hookers
I have heard this story from several cities, most recently from WSMV
Nashville's Jeremy Finley. Hookers are using Craig's List, the free and
popular online classified-advertising Web site to solicit customers. They even found a 17-year-old girl offering to hook up.
What Do You Have to Know to Work in an Online Newsroom?
The Online News Association and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism have a new survey
[PDF] to help you figure out what you need to know to work in this new media
world. It is interesting that the hard-core HTML and Flash skills do not appear as essential as attitudes and intangible qualities. E-Media Tidbits contributor Rich Gordon, an online news veteran who teaches at Medill, summarized the study in a Tidbits item earlier this month.
Be sure to check out the charts included in the PDF reflecting survey results in the three key areas: attitutdes and intanglibles; content creation; and online production tools.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting
is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials
from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis.
When the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
