Bill Zylmans family has been farming in Richmond since 1948 and hes never seen a crop theft of this magnitude before.
Its the worst Ive seen it, said Zylmans, who recently discovered several patches of potatoes had been uprooted in some of the fields he farms.
This is really serious. We arent talking small potatoes, excuse the pun.
Between three to five thousand pounds of potatoes have been stolen, resulting in more than $5,000 in theft and damage.
This is over the top, Ive had thefts before, but this is something that needs more than a slap on the wrist, added the farmer.
Zylmans went on to say its one thing to have people pilfer some blueberries or steal a pumpkin or two at Halloween, but quite another to damage fields and steal thousands of pounds worth of potatoes.
Zylmans has also heard from other farmers who have reported incidents of crop theft and vandalism.
The seasoned farmer has a message for the public: Respect farmers.
We need to nip this in the bud and let the public know that this is extremely serious, he added. If [theft] gets worse, we, as farmers, will be hooped.
In an email, Mayor Malcolm Brodie stated his anger at the theft.
Crop theft is a disturbing offence, said Brodie. Its important to our economy, heritage, environment and food security to have a viable local farming sector.
There are given challenges to farming in an urban environment, and so the publics support in being good neighbours plays a large role in ensuring farming can remain viable in Richmond.
Richmond RCMP Sgt. Cam Kowalski has also never seen an agricultural theft of this scale before in his career.
We get the occasional bout of blueberry and pumpkin thefts but a theft of this scale - never, said Kowalski.
Moreover, this isnt an easy case to solve.
In Richmond, there is a huge agricultural component and so its not like theres a lot of traffic through the fields, added Kowalski.
The Richmond RCMP has now stepped up its patrol in agricultural areas in hopes of catching the thief or thieves responsible and to put a stop to any further thefts.
We have police officers on foot and on ATV who will patrol the fields day and night, said Kowalski. Really, who picks on farmers its shameless.
If anyone has information regarding these thefts, they are asked to call the Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212 or call Crimestoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
