Neighbors keep eyes on farm when families are away

“We had a break-in in 2013 at our house, as well as two others within two miles of our place,” he says.

In 2008, a man turned out several of his pigs and proceeded to run over them with his vehicle. Struthers says approximately 15 pigs died from the assault.

Because of incidents like this, Struthers has been part of the Story County Farm Watch program since even before it officially began this year.

The program is a division of the National Neighborhood Watch program, which encourages rural citizens to report suspicious activity to the Story County Sheriff’s Office. Currently, there are about 110 farmers and their families participating.

“I get text message updates from the sheriff’s department if there’s been reported suspicious activity,” Struthers says, and he gets calls from neighboring farmers when unknown vehicles or people are seen in the area.

According to Story County Sheriff Paul H. Fitzgerald, participants of the program — both rural and urban — can get signs to post on their properties, designed to act as a deterrent for potential thieves. This can be especially helpful if the family is traveling away from the farm.

Additionally, they are given tracking numbers for equipment, so if something is stolen there is a greater chance of recovery, says Lieutenant Leanna Ellis of the Story County Sheriff’s Office.

DuPont has been a key sponsor and contributor to the program, says Fitzgerald. The company has stover bales stored at a biofuel plant in the county, and the Farm Watch program keeps an eye out on their site to prevent vandalism and theft.

He says several other partnerships have come about, including with the postal service. Many who deliver mail in rural areas keep to a similar route and can recognize when something is out of place at a residence, and Fitzgerald says they are a valuable part of the program.

Also, places where stolen equipment could potentially be sold, such as pawn shops, are on alert and notify the sheriff’s department if anything comes in that appears questionable.

Most farms have expensive machinery that could be targeted by thieves.

“Nothing seems more inviting than going by an abandoned acreage that has all kinds of farm machinery on it or maybe a tool shed where nobody’s around,” Fitzgerald says.

Struthers is active in farm organizations and helps as a 4-H leader and youth group leader, which allows him to get to know many people in the area. He says it’s important for neighbors to watch out for each other.

“I always notice who’s at my neighbor’s places when I go by,” he says, which makes it easy for him to spot out-of-place vehicles or people.

“I think if somebody knows that there is somebody watching out for the place or there’s potential that somebody is going to be coming and checking up, it’s going to be a lot more risky to mess around with your property and your belongings.”

Letting your neighbors know when you’ll be on vacation or away from home is a good idea. Residents are also welcome to call the sheriff’s office when going on vacation if they would like law enforcement to periodically check on the empty property, Fitzgerald said.

“Whether you have an official Farm Watch program or not in your county or community, get to know your neighbors well enough and just kind of let them know you’ll watch out for them if they’ll watch out for you,” Struthers says. “It’s just being neighborly.”

As a new program to Story County, and the only one currently in the state of Iowa, the sheriff’s department is working to encourage more participation and spread the word.

Ellis says they would like to see more counties add the program to help it operate more efficiently.