In a county where agriculture is worth nearly $2 billion of annual goods, the continual theft of equipment and even water through illegally drilled wells has remained a frustrating, lower-priority issue.
Anywhere from 30 to 50 times each year, or perhaps more often given the lack of agriculture-focused prosecution in Madera County since at least 2009, farmers have reported everything from the disappearance of their cattle or high-value tractors to entire grape vines torn out of the earth.
Aside rows of such grapes near the sheriff’s office Tuesday, Madera County District Attorney David Linn said his recently-formed Agricultural/Water Crime Task Force will work tirelessly to eliminate such offenses.
“Over the past 18 months, agriculture crimes were making up 20 percent of our caseload,” Linn said. “And that’s a rough estimate, I think it’d be higher than that. We’re hoping to reduce that number significantly.” ...