After a costly theft caught Rivers farmer Les Wedderburn flat-footed, he went to the media to warn others to keep an eye on their bins, and began deploying an arsenal of security measures.
However, there was no recovering the loss. Thieves had made off with between 1,500 and 1,600 bushels of canola — about a B-train load — worth about 40 grand, by Wedderburn’s estimate.
The canola wasn’t insured, and on March 24, Rivers police told the Co-operator the thieves’ trail had gone cold.
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Coincidentally, on March 7, the same day Wedderburn reported the theft to Rivers police, a farmer in the RM of Argyle reported a theft to RCMP — about 2,000 bushels of wheat gone, RCMP told the Co-operator.
“It’s pretty disheartening,” Wedderburn said. “People shouldn’t have the right to do that to anybody.
“I just think there’s going to be quite a bit more of it,” he said. “I really, really want people to be aware and watching their assets.”
Insuring against theft
Wedderburn did a bit of coffee shop research, and of the farmers he spoke to, many didn’t know if their stored grain was insured or not. He told the Co-operator he thought most probably weren’t insured.
MASC crop insurance doesn’t cover grain once it’s inside the bin, but private farm insurance policies can be extended to include “threshed grain” insurance if farmers know what to ask for.
Portage Mutual Insurance will insure threshed grain against fire, lightning and transportation. Theft coverage can be added on.
Roughly half of farm insurance customers buy threshed grain coverage and most add on theft coverage, said Portage Mutual president John Mitchell.
Red River Mutual also has add-on insurance options for threshed grain with coverage against fire, lightning and loss during grain transport. Loss from overheating isn’t covered.
Depending on the policy, theft coverage may need to be added on top of that. Red River may require proof of forced entry to pay out of that coverage, unless the grain was stored on the main farm site.
Wawanesa also insures threshed grain against things like fire, explosion, lightning and theft.
“Wawanesa always encourages people to work closely with an independent insurance broker to make sure they get the right insurance coverage at a premium they understand,” said Ken Worsley, director of farm and commercial auto.
Reducing risk
However, insurance doesn’t actually reduce the risk of theft, Mitchell told the Co-operator. It just hands the insurance company the bag.
Wedderburn told the Co-operator he’d be putting up surveillance cameras on the farm site. He also said he’d be using crop ‘confetti’ this year.
Crop confetti like Cropgard, made and sold in Rosenort, is made of tiny squares of paper, each printed with a serial number unique to that batch.
Farmers mix the confetti into the grain, and when it arrives at the elevator, the numbered confetti shows up in the sample.
The elevator calls the manufacturer and checks the serial number against the customer database to see who owns it, said Valerie Schellenberg, manager of Country Graphics, which makes the product.
A five-pound box of Cropgard marks up to 50,000 bushels. Each box costs under $200.
“It’s a very cheap, inexpensive source of security,” Schellenberg said.
Interest in Cropgard rose in 2021, probably due to rising commodity prices, Schellenberg said. Last year she sold 160 boxes, more than triple their yearly average.
The RCMP recommend ensuring the farmyard is well lit, locking gates, checking property regularly, and putting up cameras. Farmers should also get to know their neighbours and call in anything suspicious said Cpl. Julie Courchaine.
“Look out for one another,” she said.
Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP) also recommends locking grain bins and removing nearby augers.
Wedderburn’s best guess is that thieves used an auger, left at the bin overnight, to load up his canola.
There’s not enough evidence to say high commodity prices lead to increased theft, said Brenna Mahoney, KAP’s general manager.
“No matter how grain is stored or how livestock is kept there always exists the risk of theft,” she said in an email to the Co-operator.
It’s critical that rural areas have sufficient police resources, Mahoney added.
