Manitoba farmers performing equipment checks are realizing thieves targeted their operations over the winter.
“We were getting ready for the season and noticed the copper wire had been cut and pulled off of an entire irrigation pivot,” Rachel Proden, who farms near Portage la Prairie, told the Winnipeg Free Press. “We found that out like one week before we were supposed to be seeding in that field, so it was kind of like a punch to the gut.”
The criminals also stole copper from a corn planter.
The joint damage will cost Proden and the operation about $70,000, she told The Graphic Leader.
Farmers in the area are now doing their part to help catch those responsible.
Six operations, including Verwey Farms where Proden farms, have banded together to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.