REAL ESTATE
LANG ORCHARDS RIVER RANCHES (YOLO COUNTY) 374+/- Acres on Sacramento River, prime soils, fully planted to walnuts & pecans, developed wells & river pump. No drought impacts with this farm. Has homes, barns, sheds, shop. Recently upgraded walnut huller/dryer (110-ton Capacity). 3 miles from Sacramento in Elkhorn District. Parcels priced separately.
JimWirth, ALC • 916-677-8142 DRE #00912648 Isaac Rainwater • 916-677-8174 DRE #02076541
SUTTER COUNTY 44 ACRES M/L producing Chandler Walnuts 320 ACRES m/l producing walnuts and 166 ACRE Duck Club 158 ACRES M/L 3rd leaf almonds YOLO COUNTY 161 ACRES M/L 5th leaf almonds INTERO SHOWCASE REAL ESTATE MIKE SMITH • 530-682-0533 msmith@interomove.com CADRE# 01263942
200 ACRES NEAR Black Butte Lake, custom home with 20 acres of wine grapes. Winery, fishing, hunting. Turn- key opportunity. $4,500,000. 530-200- 3572
RICE & ROW CROP
114.50+/- ac., Sutter County, Robbins, CA. Excellent location. Great yield history, Sutter Mutual Water District. 3 county road frontages. $1,600,000 Stromer Realty Company Buzz Gill • (530) 682-8485 buzz@stromerrealty.com CA DRE 01238633
Aerial photography can provide striking views of farms and ranches—but has also been employed by thieves who have used drones to scout rural areas for vulnerable property.
Crime Continued from Page 1
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Detective Don Stuhmer of the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Agricultural Crimes Unit, who chairs the task force, said he is aware of animal activist groups using drones to obtain footage for their causes. He saidhe isn’t surprised that thieves are also employing drones. “Use of drones would definitely be more feasi- ble for bad guys to scout a property for items they would steal,” Stuhmer said, noting that someone can purchase a drone for as little as $35. “Technology is definitely a venue bad guys are becoming better versed in and utilizing on a daily basis,” he said. “We are seeing the police radio scanning apps more and more on bad guys’ phones, and they are getting better at selling stolen goods on web-based platforms. We just caught a guy selling stolen tractor GPS units on eBay.” Robert Spiegel , a policy advocate for the California Farm Bureau, said the use of drones in California “is a complicated area of law that is al- ways developing, because it is such a newactivity.” Operation of drones is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. It requires, for example, that drone operators keep their crafts within their line of sight while the UAVs are airborne. State laws that have been passed, Spiegel said, prohibit drone operators from interfering with the work of first responders and prohibit op- erators from recording images of personal or private activities. He said use of drones by thieves serves as a warning to farmers and ranchers. “The days inwhichwewere able to leave equip- ment in a field in themiddle of nowhere for a night are long gone,” Spiegel said. “We have to make it more difficult for the criminal elements of our so- ciety to be able to profit fromour complacency.” In Solano County, Currie said, the drone-aided thefts began inmid-February and continued until March 8, when the two suspects were arrested. Abreak in the case came after thieves tripped the alarm at the city of Dixon’s wastewater treatment facility, where the suspects were apprehended. The chief wastewater plant operator for Dixon, Sandy Jones, said responding officers
found the suspects’ vehicle, stolen property— and two drones, which were confiscated from the vehicle. Since the break-in, Jones said, plant security has been strengthened, with new locks, more security cameras and implementationof special drone-de- tection software. To safeguard farmproperty fromthieves, Currie suggested the following: • Although farmers may use drones for agri- cultural purposes, if you start seeing or hearing a drone over your property, report it to law enforce- ment. He said people launching drones may be parked on the side of the road, because they need to do so from a fairly close distance. • As far as keeping property safe from drones, keep it out of sight whenever possible. Keep all valuable tools and equipment in a building or out of sight from the air, if possible. • Lock farm equipment and remove keys from the ignition; keep keys in a secure location that thieves cannot access. • Use the Owner-Applied Number program. Farmers and ranchers can have tools and equip- ment marked with an identification number that, when checked against a national database, will connect recoveredpropertywith the rightful owner. • Use SmartWater, new forensic technology to assist law enforcement in recovering stolen property and catching thieves. The product is a liquid that itsmanufacturer says can be applied to nearly any surface and fluoresces under ultravio- let light. Anyone touching an object marked with SmartWater will pick up the chemical code—even after the liquidhas dried—andwill carry it on their skin and clothing. Under a UV light, the solution glows a bright yellow. As another crime-prevention strategy, rancher Mahoney said it is important for rural residents to be visible and present in their communities. “If you know your neighbors and communicate all the time, I think you end up preventing more problems than you realize, when you’re all aware and talking,” he said. (Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
MISCELLANEOUS
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April 28, 2021 Ag Alert 23
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