Price of high prices: Rural growers and processors in California increase security to thwart thieves

Theft is a worsening problem for farmers, and in California, it "has been compounded by the high prices that farm products -- notably nuts, cattle and pollinating bees -- have been getting on the market," reports John Holland of The Modesto Bee. "The prices have brought a measure of economic health to farmers, but are a lure for thieves who know where to unload what they have taken."

In addition, the rising price of metals such as copper are drawing thieves (a problem we also mentioned here), and so farmers and others are stepping up their security with alarm systems, video surveillance and Neighborhood Watch groups. The problem of metal recycling has prompted a bill in the state legislature to force metal buyers to pay with check and report all their transactions. Holland reports that some counties and cities have adopted such measures, but farmers still say that the theft of few hundred dollars' worth of copper wiring can end up costing them thousands in repairs to damaged equipment. As a result, some are adding security they never had growing up, but they now say is necessary. (Read more)

This sounds like a story that is playing out in many places, and it would be worth finding out what farmers in other areas say about the threat of theft and about what they are doing to stop it.