Report Every Crop Theft During Harvest

On Tuesday, the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau’s Ag Crime Committee met with Yuba County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Thomas Oakes to discuss crop theft this harvest season.

Sergeant Oakes would like to urge all growers to report every single theft, no matter how small. He emphasized that more reports will help his department identify hot spots in Yuba County and provide the information needed to deploy more deputies.

“Technically, the data right now says there were only 800 pounds of walnuts stolen last month, and we caught the guys that did it,” Oakes said. He added he knows there are more thefts taking place and his department needs to hear about them from growers. “Even if you don’t want to file a report, you can call in to say, ‘This happened, and I just want you to know,’” Oakes said.

The Yuba County Sheriff’s Department non-emergency line is (530) 749-7777.  The Sutter County Sheriff’s Department non-emergency line is (530) 822-7307.

Of course this would apply to all farming areas in the state. Growers should notify their local Sheriff to report any thefts that they notice.