A criminal wearing a hoodie can be virtually impossible to identify on poor-quality videotape. Photo provided by Steve Pastis.

Background checks

Dairy farmers should conduct background checks on all employees, according to Rocky Pipkin, president and managing general partner of the Pipkin Detective Agency in Visalia, California.

“That’s where you start,” Pipkin says. “As an employer, you have to weed out repeat offenders.”

Information used in a background check includes a prospective employee’s name, Social Security number, birthdate and residence. For about $40, a dairy owner can use information from a job application to search online records. A background check may not show all crimes committed by an employee, however. Crimes such as embezzlement may not appear in a search.

“After seven years, you cannot report it in the state of California,” Pipkin says.

Constant vigilance

Employee dishonesty can cost dairies a lot of money, according to Quiros. 

“If your employees deal with money, they could be stealing that money,” he says.

He advises farmers to look at the books and inventory on a day-to-day basis and “not rely so much on that son-in-law or nephew that you’ve been depending on.”

Quiros also tells dairy owners that they need to know everyone who comes onto their premises to do work and to always have written contracts.

“You’ve got to keep your eyes on everything,” Pipkin says. “In today’s world of online banking, you need to keep your eye on your bank account every day.”

According to Pipkin, red flags to watch for include money going “to companies you’ve never done business with before” and an increase in credit card debt “above and beyond what is typical for your business.”

Some criminals will try to steal your checks and use the information to access your bank account. 

“You need to open up your mail every day,” Pipkin says. 

He suggests that ag businesses get a post office box and says that it is 90% more secure to get mail delivered there than it is to have it delivered to the mailbox at a business. Also, federal authorities get involved when mail is taken from a post office box.

Dairy owners should also keep an eye on their inventory.

Pipkin knows of cases where criminals bought dead calves at auction and met with a driver from a dairy. They traded the dead calves along with cash for live ones. The driver pocketed the money and the dairy owner had a few less live calves.

“If all of a sudden, you see a spike in the mortality rate of your calves, you know you have a problem,” he says.

Meet safety standards

Pipkin strongly recommends that dairy owners follow all the workplace rules of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is the part of the U.S. Department of Labor that makes sure your dairy has a safe workplace environment.

He suggests that dairies hire a company that conducts workplace safety inspections. Having proof that everything at the dairy meets OSHA standards can prevent an employee from “blatantly providing false information that the employer did not have proper safety measures in place. An inspection by private compliance inspectors can cut down on insurance fraud.”

He adds that companies offer discounts for annual inspections.

Insurance companies will also send inspectors to determine how well a farm is protected from crime, along with how safe the workplace is. If changes need to be made, the inspector will issue what are called “recommendations.”

“The insurance company calls them recommendations, but they’re mandatory,” explains Jason Mackey, agent/vice president at Mackey and Mackey Insurance Agency in Hanford, California. “If my client doesn’t comply, it may impact their rating negatively. If they don’t comply, they may get dropped.”

Products for preventing theft

Companies are constantly creating and improving products to prevent or reduce ag crime. A few of them had their latest products on display at a recent California Rural Crime Prevention Task Force (CRCPTF) conference.

Cambridge Forensics exhibited SmartTrace (formerly SmartWater), an odorless, colorless liquid that appears to be water and leaves no visible residue.

SmartTrace is invisible to the human eye, says Mike Ross, founder of Cambridge Forensics, a division of Cambridge Federal, based in Punta Gorda, Florida. 

 “It's up to the individual how they deploy the product," he says. "It has a code that is exclusive to that customer.” 

Although the product is not approved for human consumption by the FDA, it can be applied to the hooves of dairy cows, according to Ross. 

Pipkin suggests spraying the product on anything of high value, including “the refrigerator where medicine for cows is kept.” 

He also advised dairy owners to spray it on farm vehicles, including ATVs, or “anything someone can take and use for themselves.”

Cambridge Forensics also offers a security system that can spray SmartTrace on anyone opening a locked cabinet or storeroom with medicine or other costly items. It can also be used to spray anyone who tries to steal a vehicle without disarming the system.

“It stays on the body for eight weeks, and on clothing forever,” Ross says.

“Some employers let their employees know that everything has their mark on it,” Pipkin adds.

Pipkin was also impressed with electric fencing by Amarok LLC. The Columbia, South Carolina-based company manufactures fences that do not have a sufficient shock to put anyone’s life at risk, “but you’re not going to feel good” after touching it. An electric fence on the perimeter of a dairy is often enough to deter theft. Sometimes seeing the sign is enough.

“Criminals look at 'How can I get in, get what I want and get out?'” he says.

“The Electric Guard Dog Fence has been popular with the California Rural Crime Task Force because it’s a proven property crime deterrent,” says Keaton McPherson, regional account executive with Amarok. “Our 7,000-volt electric fence serves as a physical and shocking deterrent for anyone looking to gain access to dairy property.” 

Real-time alerts notify law enforcement when and where the attempted breach is happening, he added.

Other advice

“Don’t leave vehicles out at night,” Quiros advised, but if you do, “at least don’t leave the keys.”

To increase the chances that stolen vehicles will be returned, Quiros suggests that all vehicles have some sort of marking to identify who owns them, such as a steel plate welded to the vehicle. A GPS device increases the chances that the stolen vehicle will be located. Both of these suggestions, however, are much more helpful in recovering a vehicle than in stopping a theft.

Drones are now being used to scout dairy farms. Some are operated by animal rights activists to gather video showing how dairy cows are treated. Other drones are being used by criminals searching for equipment to steal. 

If you see a drone near or over your property, the CRCPTF advises you to videotape it, or at least watch where it goes, and report it to law enforcement. Do not follow the drone operator fleeing from your farm, and do not touch any drone that lands on your property.

Pipkin advises dairy owners to always be on the lookout for new scams.

“The thing I tell people is: The time I think I’ve seen it all, somebody comes up with an ingenious new way to rip off a farmer,” he says.