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Ensure you have the Make, Model and Serial Number
of all your equipment—whether it’s precision ag related
or not. It won’t stop it from being stolen, but it certainly
can aid in you getting it back should the goods be
recovered.
Noted earlier in this article was the reluctance to
report ag crime to the police. However, regardless
of how insignificant you believe it to be, a crime is a
crime is a crime, and should be reported immediately,
especially in the event of a robbery. Reporting a crime
like theft is also important when later dealing with your
insurance company—if you don’t take it seriously, why
should they?
While some individuals may feel personal
embarrassment for having been the victim of a crime—
don’t. By reporting your issues, you provide a local
area warning for your peers. The same holds true for
retailers—don’t be afraid to inform customers to allow
them to be better prepared.
Hopefully with common sense prevailing, there are
other ways to prepare oneself against theft.
A hi-tech identification mark can be used, such as
a forensic marking solution or a forensic marking
warning sticker applied to your equipment in a very
visible location. You want would-be thieves to see it to
possibly prevent a theft from occurring.
An old-school solution is the use of a roll-on theft-
prevention stamp. Its purpose is the same as its
high-tech brethren—to warn a would-be thief that
the component is marked. A knock against it is that
it is hardly a practical application on a precision ag
antenna.
If your system has a pin number password for input,
ensure it is being used. John Deere, for example, use
a security pin code system to lock its StarFire 6000
vehicle when not in use. The pin password system will
not prevent a vehicle from being stolen nor will not be
able to stop a component from being removed—but it
can stop it from being used by others.
Having said that, the truly tech savvy criminal
enterprise may possess the means of breaking the pin,
if Hollywood movies have taught us anything. At worst,
you make the thief work for it.
Theft, no matter the scope, is no laughing matter.
Even if not directly affected, feelings of being invaded
by strangers on or in your property can play on the
emotional state of the mind.
To provide more peace of mind, the only solution at
this juncture appears to be for the owner/operator of
precision ag technology to remove it when not in use
and lock it in a safe location.
For future resolutions, it may be up to the precision
ag manufacturer itself. Can removable technology be
created where a pin number must be first inputted to
allow it to be removed, with total equipment failure
if not done? How about adding facial recognition or
thumb print software to allow the component to be
accessed in the same way our wireless phones use
that technology?
Will the next generation of precision ag technology
provide affordable security features to prevent theft
or repurposing of its components? Precision ag
owners are willing to embrace the future with open
eyes regarding technology and the security it can
offer.
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ENSURE YOU HAVE THE MAKE, MODEL
AND SERIAL NUMBER OF ALL YOUR
EQUIPMENT...
PHOTOS: aetb/iStock/Getty Images Plus, zhaojiankang/iStock/Getty Images Plus